Main Street News

Author and musician Bob Gluck recently released his fourth book, The Musical World of Paul Winter. Focusing on Paul Winter, a saxophonist, composer, and pioneer of world music and Earth music—which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz, and world music—the book paints a portrait of the musical artist and environmental activist who lives in Litchfield County. 

About the author

Raised in New York, Bob Gluck spent much of his childhood studying piano at the Juilliard Pre-College division. His musical training continued at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, the State University of New York at Albany – where he later taught for many years – and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 

Following college, his career bisected to follow two different tracks. One part of his career was his work as a musician, educator, writer, and performer. Gluck taught jazz studies and film sound design for more than two decades, and during his time as a professor, he penned two books. The first focused on Herbie Hancock, a 14-time Grammy Award-winning composer, bandleader, and jazz musician, and the second about Miles Davis, composer, bandleader, and jazz trumpeter who is considered to be one of the most influential figures in 20th century music and jazz. Both books are published by the University of Chicago Press.

A pianist and electronic musician, Gluck has released 13 albums to date. He has performed his music internationally, collaborated with a variety of other musicians, and his work appears on several compilations.

The second side of Gluck’s career has been as a rabbi. He holds degrees from Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work and from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In fact, he spent much of the 1990s serving a congregation in Great Barrington, MA. 

Now retired, Gluck has returned his focus to writing. “Retirement for me has meant more writing about topics addressing all aspects of my different careers. The books I have completed while in retirement include one about guitarist Pat Metheny (Pat Metheny, Stories Beyond Words, University of Chicago Press, 2024) and now, Paul Winter (The Musical World of Paul Winter, Terra Nova Editions, 2025). I also have a jazz trio album focusing on Pat Metheny’s music coming out in July called Transcendence: Music of Pat Metheny.”

Intertwining nature with music 

Gluck came to admire Paul Winter’s music when he was a teenager in high school. It all started with Winter’s 1972 album Icarus. “It synthesized all sorts of musical influences, and was at once accessible, tuneful, and exploratory,” Gluck shared. 

Gluck went on to see the Paul Winter Consort perform at the Hudson River Festival in the 1970s, and he would continue to enjoy many of their concerts over the following decades throughout New England. In his 20s, he attended workshops by former Winter associates, singer Susan Osborn, and cellist David Darling. The workshops were built on Winter’s idea that music making can emerge spontaneously and expressively, and this concept proved pivotal in Gluck’s growth as a musician. 

“In short, as with most of my writing about music, I’ve chosen to address a musician whose music has moved me in significant ways,” he said. “I write about topics that I feel I have something new to say, with the hope that I might encourage people to listen more attentively. I greatly admire Paul’s ability to convey his deep concern for the well-being of the planet and for all species in a musical way. He discovered a way to cultivate our ability to appreciate the fragility of the planet by moving our emotions rather than admonishing us.” 

For The Musical World of Paul Winter, Gluck chose to focus his interviews on three people who participated in what became the core of Winter’s musical direction. Two of these interviewees were Susan Osborn and David Darling, both of whom Gluck worked with at Winter’s workshops. The third interviewee was singer, guitarist, composer, and arranger, Jim Scott. 

Gluck’s goal for the book was not to pen a biography, but to instead explore the overarching ideas represented in Winter’s work. One of these ideas is Winter’s interest and passion for incorporating animal songs and sounds in his music. 

When Paul Winter attended a lecture on songs of the humpback whale in 1968, he discovered that these beings produce sounds in intricate patterns that musicians can define as “songs.” Listening to these songs, Winter found himself deeply moved by their musical intelligence. He was also shocked to learn that whales were rapidly being hunted to extinction. 

He traveled to Japan with the “Save the Whales” campaign, played at benefits for Greenpeace and other organizations, and led music-making and whale-watching workshops on Cape Cod and in Baja, California. In 1978, he released Common Ground, an album that combined his music with sounds of the wolf, eagle, and humpback whale. 

“Biographical information certainly runs through the book, stitching together Paul’s ideas and the music that exemplifies them,” Gluck said. “But one thing I seek to do in my writing is help people become more attentive listeners, and to understand the context for the music. In Paul’s case, a key part of this is wonder in the natural environment and the musicality and inherent worth of humpback whales, songbirds, and wolves.”

Diving into the life of a musician 

There have been many ways that Gluck has enjoyed writing this book. Naturally, he found it incredibly rewarding to rediscover the breadth and depth of Winter’s music, beyond what he was already familiar with. But perhaps more than this, he enjoyed engaging with the people he interviewed who knew Winter so personally. 

“During a visit to David Darling’s house, he asked me to play something for him at the piano, so I started improvising. I had no idea that he would take out his cello when I wasn’t looking and start playing along. That was a really precious moment that helped exemplify for me the way that David always encouraged musicians to play with abandon and without worry about playing something ‘wrong,’” Gluck shared. 

From a writer’s perspective, he also finds it incredibly rewarding to discover how a book “needs” to be structured in order to be effective. “With this book, that happened when I decided to focus on the large themes. Examples include the idea of a ‘consort,’ Paul’s engagement with the music of wolves and of the humpback whale, of using music to build empathy for the natural world, create events on an epic scale, and more recently, retool one’s performance career in light of the pandemic.”

Gluck hopes this book will be of interest to all readers, irrespective of musical experience or background, and he anticipates it will be of particular interest to those who are concerned about the natural world. 

“For people who know Paul Winter’s music well, the book should offer an opportunity to learn more about his musical evolution. From young adulthood when his jazz ensemble had the unlikely opportunity to perform at the Kennedy White House and tour South America for the State Department, to his movement through a period of discovery, dramatically reinventing how he wanted to make music, learning about how he became the Paul Winter we know is fascinating,” Gluck explained. “The musicians you’ll meet are fascinating and wonderful, and the music is engaging and constantly surprising. Paul Winter’s story is as truly fascinating as the music he plays and the ideas behind it.”

To learn more about Paul Winter, visit his official website here. To learn more about Bob Gluck, visit his website here. To learn more about the book, visit the Terra Nova website here.