Paul Winter has been a part of my life for a very long time, ever since I first heard Whales Alive! in the late 1980s. Although I discovered Winter's work because of his association with Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy and cetacean biologist Roger Payne, that album inspired me to delve deeply into his older recordings and to follow his new releases as they appeared. Late in 2025, I was pleased to receive a copy of his latest recording, Horn of Plenty.

As the publicity materials accompanying the CD explained, the album's genesis was a request from NPR to "create a new radio hour celebrating Thanksgiving," which first aired on Thanksgiving Day 2024. That project inspired Winter to revise and expand the playlist a bit, leading to this 67-minute album and a concert of the music at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York.

Longtime fans of Winter's music will find some familiar tracks here, as well as several new compositions. This "cornucopia of music," the liner notes exclaim, celebrates "the creatures and cultures of this glorious Earth."

Notably, the album is dedicated to Roger Payne, whose collaboration led to decades of friendship between the two men. Payne, who introduced the world to the songs of humpback whales through his recordings, died in 2023. Track 8 on the album, "Song to Roger" by Henrique Eisenmann, was written in his memory.

The tracks include a mix of old favorites and new material. Pieces written or co-written by Winter are "Dolphin Morning," "The Well-Tempered Wood Thrush" (with credit also going to J.S. Bach and the eponymous thrush), "Grand Canyon Sunrise," "Caravan at Dawn," "Blues Cathedral," "Wolf Eyes," "Triumph" and "Harvest Faire."

"Caravan at Dawn" was co-written and performed by Winter on soprano sax, Arto Tuncboyaciyan on vocals and percussion, Mickey Hart on a self-designed computer array of drum pads set to cimbalom, santur, gambang and vibes, and Jordan Rudess on keyboards. Vardan Gregorian, from Yerevan, plays the zurna, a traditional double-reed instrument.

"Wolf Eyes," a longtime favorite of mine, blends the mournful howling of a timber wolf with Winter's soprano saxophone, Eugene Friesen on cello, Warren Bernhardt and Jeff Holmes on piano, Oscar Castro-Neves of guitar and synthesizer, and Dave Carpenter on bass, while "Triumph" was co-written and performed by Winter on soprano sax, Paul Halley on pipe organ and Davy Spillane on uilleann pipes.

Other tracks are "Primavera (Spring)" by Carlos Lyra and Vinicius de Moraes; "Land of the Pipers," a medley of Scottish tunes featuring Jerry O'Sullivan on uilleann pipes; "Garden of the Earth," a traditional Russian song featuring the Dmitri Pokrovsky Singers; and "Icarus," the Paul Winter Consort's theme song since 1970, when it was written by the consort's guitarist, Ralph Towner. Besides the thrush and wolf, the album also features the voices of a dolphin and a blue whale. (What, no humpbacks?!)

Horn of Plenty is an album to be thankful for. I have listened to it repeatedly and haven't tired of a single track. Since Thanksgiving doesn't have a lot of traditional music associated with the holiday, you should consider adding this to your seasonal playlist.