Gary Windo remembered through new book
Written by Matt   
Tuesday, 29 April 2014

In January, we toldHim Through Me - Pam Windo, 2014 you about Gonzo Multimedia releasing three rare albums by the late sax legend Gary Windo, one of which features Robert Wyatt and Pink Floyd's Nick Mason. Windo was a highly original musician with an instantly recognizable style, and was involved in the Seventies with many icons of the British jazz and rock genres, including the Canterbury scene, but who sadly passed away in 1992.

In November of 1975, Windo formed Gary Windo & Friends for a one-off gig at Maidstone College of Art, with his wife Pam Windo on piano, guitarist Richard Brunton, and the rhythm section of Bill MacCormick, Nick Mason, and Laurie Allan. This group was the precursor to Windo's next album, which until this year had never been released. In 1976, Nick offered Windo time in Pink Floyd's brand new Britannia Row studio, which would give Windo the opportunity to make this album, and Pink Floyd the chance to test the new systems. Nick both produced and played drums, and with his typical sense of humour, Windo would call the album Steam Radio Tapes.

You can order this album through these links: Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Espana and Amazon Italy.

We've since heard from his wife Pam. Last year, she wrote a portrait of her husband Gary, and added it to her website. A publisher picked up on it, and asked her to write a longer, more detailed version. This has now just been published - this week - as a paperback. 'Him Through Me: Making Love and Music in the Sixties and Seventies' is the story of a young couple's journey through the revolutionary music world of the Sixties and Seventies, and includes an introduction by Nick Mason, who is also featured throughout the book. She takes us back to the years of music she shared with him, reliving the successes and fiascos, the trials of being an artist and mother, the exhilaration of the Hippie and Women's Lib movements, and the challenges of an open marriage.

In part of Nick's introduction, he notes with customary wit that he "had no idea that beneath that nice Mrs Windo who lived down the road dwelt the kind of wild woman we had been constantly warned about (and were constantly looking for)." Fellow musician Robert Wyatt called the book "terrific stuff, a real record of the times...".

You can order the book now from: Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Espana and Amazon Italy.