The scruffy guy onstage at the Crest Theatre Friday evening was bantering with the piano technician. He looked like he might have wandered in off the downtown streets looking for a spare-change handout. In worn jeans and work shirt, ball cap pulled down over an unruly fringe of dark hair, George Winston spoke with The Sacramento Press before his ”Summer Show.” Grammy-winner Winston is known for his low-key approach to concerts. Before the photo shoot, he changed into his performance clothing: blue jeans, a sage green long-sleeved cotton shirt and gray wool socks, no shoes. He removed his cap and joked about not having gotten a haircut for the gig, sporting what he called his “Manson look

Not having any relatives west of the Mississippi, my family often traveled up to Portland to spend Thanksgiving with old friends. We'd usually pick up a couple books on tape from the Contra Costa library before heading out on road trips like these, but pianist George Winston's albums Autumn and December always traveled with us. Because of these albums' bonding themes – holidays, family, journeys – the music grew into an important memory from childhood. In some ways, it ceased being art for me, in that I couldn't evaluate it with a critical eye as I developed musically. This isn't to say that I think George Winston is a bad composer or pianist. In the same way I occasionally eat at a child