The Paul Winter Sextet: Count Me In

50th Anniversary Anthology with 12 never-released tracks, including their historic concert at the Kennedy White House

“Exuberant Music of an Extraordinary Time”

The Paul Winter Sextet emerged in Chicago during Paul’s years at Northwestern University. After winning the 1961 Intercollegiate Jazz Festival, the band was signed to Columbia Records by legendary producer John Hammond. In 1962 the Sextet recorded its first three albums, and, on recommendation from Festival judges Dizzy Gillespie and Hammond, was sent by the State Department on a six-month tour of 23 countries of Latin America.

The success of this tour led to an invitation from First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to play at the White House. The Sextet’s performance in the East Room on November 19, 1962, happened to be the first-ever jazz concert in the White House. The group continued to tour and record throughout 1963, and made their final album during the week of President Kennedy’s assassination. Then, numbed by that tragedy, and discouraged by what they felt was the end of that optimistic era, the Sextet disbanded and the players went on to other pursuits – the drummer eventually to Count Basie’s band, the bassist to Ahmad Jamal’s trio, the trumpet player to medical school, the baritone saxist to teach at Michigan State, and Paul to Brazil, to resume his exploration of the world’s music.

“The Sextet was conceived as a kind of little ‘big band,’” says Paul, “and with our instrumentation of three horns and rhythm, it has quite a different sound from that of the Paul Winter Consort, which people have known me for during the last several decades. But on a primary level, it’s all the same lineage: a spirit of celebration, in the democracy of ensemble, aspiring toward a balance between the improvised and the composed.”

More on Count Me In

• Postscript 2012, by Paul Winter
• Reviews
• Videos
• Radio Interviews
• CD Booklet
• “Jazz at White House” article
• Listen to the full album
• Buy Album
• Buy MP3

Count Me In – CD Booklet

Count Me In – Track List

DISC I
1. A Bun Dance 3:37 (Norman Simmons)
2. Papa Zimbi 4:26 (Warren Bernhardt) – Between the Sheets Music (BMI)
3. Casa Camara 4:58 (Richard Evans) – Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI)
4. Them Nasty Hurtin’ Blues 3:25 (Richard Evans) – Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI)
5. Voce e Eu (Only You and I) 2:51 (Vinicius de Moraes, Carlos Lyra) – Guanabara Music (BMI)
6. Insensatez (Foolish One) 3:40 (Vinicius de Moraes, Antonio Carlos Jobim) – Corcovado Music (BMI)
7. Mystery Blues 3:55
8. Chega de Saudade (No More Blues) 3:03 (Vinicius de Moraes, Antonio Carlos Jobim) – Corcovado Music (BMI)
9. Routeousness 4:50 (Les Rout)
10. Count Me In 2:26 (Richard Evans) – Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI)
11. Bells and Horns 4:45 (Milt Jackson) – MJQ Music
12. Saudade de Bahia (Longing for Bahia) 4:26 (Dorival Caymmi)
13. Casa Camara 5:07 (Richard Evans) – Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI)
14. Pony Express 3:20 (Warren Bernhardt) – Between the Sheets Music (BMI)
15. Maria Ninguem (Maria Nobody) 2:57 (Carlos Lyra) – Guanabara Music (BMI)
16. Toccata (from “Suite Gillespiana”) 4:45 (Lalo Schifrin)
17. Count Me In 3:01 (Richard Evans) – Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI)

DISC II
1. Cupbearers 3:32 (Tom McIntosh) – Kayak Music, Inc. (BMI)
2. Ally 6:48 (Tom McIntosh) – Kayak Music, Inc. (BMI)
3. The Sheriff 4:44 (Gil Melle) – Cyclades Music (BMI)
4. With Malice Toward None 5:22 (Tom McIntosh) – Kayak Music, Inc. (BMI)
5. All Members 6:50 (Jimmy Heath)
6. Marilia 4:27 (Warren Bernhardt) – Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI)
7. Suite Port au Prince
A. Invocation to Dambala
B. Prayer
C. Papa Zimbi 9:48 (Warren Bernhardt) – Between the Sheets Music (BMI)
8. New York 19 5:15 (John Lewis) – MJQ Music (BMI)
9. Quem Quizer Encantrar O Am or
(He who wants to find love has to cry) 3:47 (Carlos Lyra) – Universal Songs (BMI)
10. The Thumper 5:28 (Jimmy Heath)
11. Count Me In 2:44 (Richard Evans) – Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI)
12. Repeat 3:21 (Denny Zeitlin) – Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
13. Lass from the Low Countrie 3:44 (Trad.) – Living Earth Music (BMI)
14. Down by the Greenwood Side 5:35 (Trad.) – Living Earth Music (BMI)
15. We Shall Overcome 3:21 Public Domain, arr. Cecil McBee