Garth Hudson was the secret architect within The Band — a quiet alchemist whose organ swells, clavinet sparks, saxophone lines, and unclassifiable sonic magic turned simple songs into haunted cathedrals. A formally trained multi-instrumentalist with an ear for the ancient and the futuristic, Hudson brought a painter’s palette to Music From Big Pink, The Band, Stage Fright, and beyond, filling the music with color, shadow, and mystery. His playing was never flashy — it was cinematic, atmospheric, alive — the hidden weather of the music itself. Whether coaxing churchlight tones from his Lowrey or swirling like wind through the Hudson Valley, he shaped Americana by expanding its emotional universe. Garth Hudson didn’t just play notes — he built landscapes inside them.