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REVIEWS
David
Lanz’s "Spirit Romance" is his first for Narada since 1998.
In the time in between, he has recorded an independent album and a few
for Decca, which have sold well and put Lanz on the piano map as an
artist to watch for.
Lanz and flutist Gary Stroutsos have combined along with Lanz’s
brother Gary, adding a producing credit to his name, along with bassist
Keith Lowe, violinist Swil Kanim and Glen Velez on acoustic percussion
and Jonn Serrie on keyboards. All of this improvised which once
you hear it once, it allows you to see how good these players are
without knowing the true background. Stroutsos plays a few
different flutes, but his favorite on here is the Xiao flute from
China, which is a father figure to the traditional Japanese flute.
David Lanz and company have a great new age album here. The
counterpoint play between Stroutsos and Lanz is great, with Lowe adding
a great bass play and cymbals on the track "Satori" by Larry
Mahlis. The song "Return to Altair" features Serrie on keyboards,
which is a revisit of the previous track by Lanz called "Wings to
Altair" from his album Cristofori’s Dream from 1988.
With its Eastern flavor and its "Return To Altair" being divided up
into five suites at just over two minutes each, David Lanz with Gary
Stroutsos have returned to fine form, about the days of 1993 to 1998
with the five albums Lanz did for Narada. David Lanz continues to
produce great albums, from his 1983 debut Heartsounds to 2005.
With this album, Lanz and company have provided us with another solid
album throughout.
Reviewed by: Brenton Plourde
JazzReview.com
The
elegant and evocative piano of David Lanz has been described as
creating a musical landscape. Going deeper in Spirit Romance than in
his classic Songs from an English Garden and Cristofori's Dream
(despite the awesome soulfulness of the latter's "Whiter Shade of
Pale"), the ambiance here is more spiritual, meditative and, at times,
almost liturgical, while maintaining Lanz's characteristic world music
sound through the use of global instrumentation.
Gary
Stroutsos joins him on a variety of flutes, primarily a haunting
Chinese xiao flute, to blend with Lanz's piano on 11 tracks.
The result is fervently transcendent and
soul-sating in much the same way the chants of Hildegarde of Bingen and
the Gyuto Monks, the poetry of St. John the Divine and Rumi, and the
sacred architecture of Chartres and Bangkok are. This is an entirely
relaxing, mind-quieting, spirit-awakening experience.
Stephen Richmond
Rambles.net
July, 2006
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One of the early pioneers of the
New Age genre, David Lanz is also one of the few survivors of the
declining commercial appeal of New Age music. David’s
endurance is partly due his utter flexibility in being able to play
hopscotch with his musical approach. This is best reflected by his last
two projects the jazzy pizzazz of The Good Life and the contrasting
pastoral stripped down A Cup Of Moonlight. Spirit Romance lives up to
that diversity presenting the listener with a moody and musky yet
improvised and intellectual collaboration with flutist Gary Stroutsos.
Apparently, this is not the first collaboration between Lanz and
Stroutsos. David appeared on Gary’s Native Indian themed cd I
Am Walking courtesy of the creation “Evening
Serenada”. An improvised version is featured on Spirit
Romance titled “Serenada”. This track sets the
disposition of the entire album, only this arrangement features Gary on
an ancient bamboo Chinese Xiao Flute instead of the Native Indian
Courting Flute. Along with Keith Lowe on an upright bass and Glen Velez
on soft percussion the album is a potpourri of peculiar mergers of
jazz, classical, Native Indian and mystical eastern themes.
Additional written collaborations include “Satori”
that follows right after “Evening Serenda” that has
a very improvisational influence. It is also the longest track clocking
in over 9 minutes that also features the atmospheric keyboard work of
John Serrie. Equally as haunting is the title track that has open
spaces for Lanz to flutter around gracefully on the piano. However, the
limelight is left to Gary’s flute countering and
complimenting the violin work of Swil Kanim. This song is simply
exquisite and captures the entire essence of this album and deservedly
is named the title track.
As for Lanz, at the suggestion of his producer/brother Gary Lanz, he
revisited “Wings To Altair” that was previously
featured on Lanz’ album Cristofori’s
Dream”. Renaming it “Return To Altair
Suite”, the arrangement is reworked into 5 separate movements
that also include the repeat appearance of John Serrie who was also
featured on the original arrangement. Meanwhile, Lanz flies solo,
compositionally, and transports us “Between
Worlds”.
Considering the odd genre mergers, this is probably one of
David’s least accessible album. In contrast, the
re-envisioning of the Cuban lullaby “Oguerre”,
subtitled the “Blue Largo” arrangement, is exotic
and as equally accessible. Along side the title track it is one of the
most memorable melodies of the album that does not require a second and
third sitting to enjoy.
Granted, Spirit Romance is not an instantly gratifying album that
requires some patience and undivided attention to truly enjoy this
unique listening experience. However, unlike our worldly romances that
are many times temperamental and short lived, Spirit Romance has a
lifeline that would suggest a timeless desire for repeat visitations to
your cd player.
Michael Debbage
Solo Piano Publications
January, 2006
“Spirit
Romance” is David Lanz’s first album of new
material on Narada since 1998. Since then, he has recorded several
albums on Decca and one independently, the most recent of which was a
smooth jazz album that confused the heck out of a lot of his longtime
fans. Anyone who has seen Lanz in concert knows that he can play just
about any style of music, but many fans didn’t want him to
deviate from the beautiful, romantic music he is so well-known for.
Lanz has been one of the most influential artists in the “new
age piano” genre, and “Spirit Romance,”
takes him back to those roots while still moving in a slightly
different direction. This new music isn’t as structured or
melodic as some of his earlier work, but this is my favorite Lanz album
in quite some time. However, “Spirit Romance”
isn’t just David Lanz, but a collaboration between himself
and flutist Gary Stroutsos. They improvised most of this music in
Lanz’s new old house, with David’s
brother, Gary Lanz, at the helm as engineer and producer. Some of the
tracks feature Jonn Serrie working his ambient space magic in the
background; the title track features Swil Kanim on violin; and a few
tracks feature Keith Lowe on acoustic bass and Glen Velez on acoustic
percussion, but it’s mostly just flute and piano. What a
magical sound! The freedom of improvisation creates a sense of deep
intimacy and spiritual connection. Stroutsos played several different
flutes on this recording, but used the Xiao flute, which is rarely
heard outside of China, most often. Older than the Japanese bamboo
flute, this instrument has a haunting, deeply spiritual quality that is
perfect for this kind of music. What kind of music is it? There are a
lot of recognizable Lanz touches, but this music is quite different
from his other recordings. Lanz has occasionally been criticized for
being too pop-oriented, but I don’t think there was any
thought of commercialization in the making of “Spirit
Romance.” The exotic flutes and percussion instruments bring
a strong Eastern flavor to the music, while the piano and string bass
merge with a more Western sensibility, creating a universality of
spirit that is intriguing, soothing, and very satisfying. In short, I
LOVE this album! It is available at www.davidlanz.com, and at online and retail outlets
everywhere Narada’s albums are sold. Very highly recommended!
Kathy Parsons
Solo Piano Publications
9/22/05
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