Formed by Paul Winter in 1967, The Winter Consort became one of the earliest exponents of world music, combining elements from various African, Asian, and South American cultures with jazz. By 1980 the group name had been changed to The Paul Winter Consort. The Consort has won a total of four Grammy Awards. The first was for the album Spanish Angel (1994), a live album recorded in Spain. That was followed by Silver Solstice (2005), Crestone (2007) and Miho: Journey to the Mountain (2010).

The Consort has gone through numerous personnel changes in its more than 40 year history with sax player Paul Winter as the only constant member.