David Lanz - French Impressions (2017)

Many have tried to define David Lanz style, but that would be too simple. David Lanz plays David Lanz music. As both composer and interpreter, his approach to music is often larger than life, breathtaking in its breadth, yet accessible and down-to-earth as well. Through his music, Lanz connects in an intimate manner with his audience by tapping into emotions, thoughts and dreams like an old friend. Early in Lanz’s career, he took gigs playing rock, funk and disco. Then he had an epiphany: “I had been doing yoga and meditating and getting into Eastern philosophy,” says Lanz, “and slowly I started thinking about how music could help. With music, you could get people to dance or you could get people to meditate or to march off to war. I was aware of a few other musicians who were doing light, ambient music and I was always into what the classical East Indian musicians were doing, creating trance states. By the early ‘80s I was really into the idea that this kind of music would be an interesting path to take.” In 1983, Lanz made his recording debut, Heartsounds, on Narada. It was received favorably and Lanz was off, pursuing his new direction and exploring the various ways he might touch an emerging listenership. During the next five years he released six new albums and landed a major commercial breakthough with 1988’s Cristofori’s Dream. The album consisted of six originals, including the opening title track, which has become a classic, and a cover of Procol Harum’s 1967 rock hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” Cristofori’s Dream topped Billboard Magazine’s first Adult Alternative/New Age chart and remained for an impressive 27 weeks. 1990 brought about the release of Skyline Firedance, which joined Lanz with an 80-piece orchestra. He continued to record for Narada, issuing several more titles including 1998’s Songs From an English Garden, his first to tap into the British Invasion repertoire of the ’60s. In 2000, he changed recording homes to Decca Records where he scored a Grammy nomination for East Of the Moon. Lanz continued to record and tour relentlessly, releasing eleven titles between 2001 and 2007. In 2008, he made his Shanachie debut, Painting In the Sun, and in 2012 he paid homage to The Beatles with Here Comes The Sun and Liverpool Re-Imagining The Beatles.

Truly a renaissance man, David Lanz is always heading into the unknown in order to expand his artistry and share what he’s found with the world. His musical offering is a welcomed retreat back into music with heart, soul, courage, adventure, humanity and purpose. With the release of Movements Of The Heart, the journey continues and David Lanz concludes, “I always want my listeners to really enjoy the music, but if it connects to their deeper levels of emotion and allows them to really feel the stirrings in their own hearts...all the better!”

From the Liner Notes:

At the piano, in the early morning hours of summer past, I would mentally prepare before I began to record the compositions for what became my "Norwegian Rain" release. Often times it helped me to prepare when I would chose to first move into a gentle improvisation.

This process allowed me to relax and get into the right frame of mind so later, after playing these extemporaneous pieces, I could concentrate on the more serious work at hand... the recording of my composed music.

After listening back to this collection of improvisations, I found that the lack of structure and preordained melody made for an enjoyable ambient yet sophisticated sonic experience.

Recorded in our temporary French villa, in the summer of 2016, now for you to sample and savor, these pianistic French Impressions."