Mark Horton/Getty Images Procol Harum singer/keyboardist Gary Brooker will be a special guest at New Age group the Paul Winter Consort‘s 37th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration, scheduled for December 15, 16 and 17 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Brooker will be performing a selections of Procol Harum songs at the concerts, including his band’s signature tune, “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”
The 2016 Winter Solstice Celebration concerts are dedicated to late Beatles producer George Martin, who also produced the Paul Winter Consort’s 1972 album Icarus and Brooker’s 1979 solo effort, No More Fear of Flying. The shows will include a full performance of Icarus, which Martin once referred to as “the finest record I have ever made.”
Winter and Brooker have been friends since Paul’s group opened for Procol Harum back in 1971. Winter admits that Procol Harum “was the only rock band I liked besides The Beatles.” He adds, “I’ve long loved Gary’s voice, since first hearing him sing ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ all those years ago. This wedding of Gary’s bluesy voice with those Bachian changes embodies my favorite aesthetic combination of the earthy and the sublime.”
The annual Winter Solstice Celebration shows also will feature the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, a troupe of 25 dancers and drummers, which will premiere a new piece at the events. The concerts are scheduled to take place at 8 p.m. ET on December 15 and 16, and at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on December 17. Tickets are available now via PaulWinter.com and at StJohnDivine.org.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.