Um, no. No whale cries.
It's funny though. Over the years the label has lost the artistic credibility it once had. The songs have been recycled time and again on compilations, but the original albums are long out of print, and so if you weren't into music at the time, you could easily confuse Windham Hill with any of the imitators.
Because I so clearly remember the original vision of the label in the early 80's, I tend to think of Windham Hill more in the vein of ECM or MA recordings - not Narada or the Environments series.
Windham Hill faced a problem of success - they created a genre which could be done badly - and the competition watered down the vision and distracted listeners from the artists. I remember that by the early 90's Narada's less artistically significant catalog was handily outselling Windham Hill.
Also, Will Ackerman, who founded the label, became more removed from the label over time, and not all of the later works had his distinct musical imprint.
Nonetheless, I think the first 50 or so albums truly represent a great moment in American music - and there are several gems in the next 50 as well. That's a lot of good records for one small label.
It's funny though. Over the years the label has lost the artistic credibility it once had. The songs have been recycled time and again on compilations, but the original albums are long out of print, and so if you weren't into music at the time, you could easily confuse Windham Hill with any of the imitators.
Because I so clearly remember the original vision of the label in the early 80's, I tend to think of Windham Hill more in the vein of ECM or MA recordings - not Narada or the Environments series.
Windham Hill faced a problem of success - they created a genre which could be done badly - and the competition watered down the vision and distracted listeners from the artists. I remember that by the early 90's Narada's less artistically significant catalog was handily outselling Windham Hill.
Also, Will Ackerman, who founded the label, became more removed from the label over time, and not all of the later works had his distinct musical imprint.
Nonetheless, I think the first 50 or so albums truly represent a great moment in American music - and there are several gems in the next 50 as well. That's a lot of good records for one small label.