“Going down to 'Liverpool': New Age pianist brings re-imagined Beatles songs to Covey Center” |
| Going down to 'Liverpool': New Age pianist brings re-imagined Beatles songs to Covey Center Posted: 03 Dec 2010 12:09 AM PST Contemporary instrumental and New Age pianist David Lanz was 14 when the Beatles hit it big in the United States. "I was the perfect target market for Beatlemania," said the Grammy award nominee Lanz during a telephone interview from Seattle. "At that point. I was already playing the piano and making up my own little songs." By then Lanz had "fired" his piano teacher and was figuring out how to do his own music. "The Beatles came along and really opened my eyes," Lanz said. "I started to study and explore songwriting, via the method Lennon and McCartney used, and I examined how they put their chords together in their melodies." Lanz, performing two shows on Saturday at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, can point out in any of his own compositions how the Beatles helped shape his own songwriting style. "I really don't know what my music would have turned out to be if it hadn't been for that major impact on me as a kid." Still, when most people think of David Lanz, they don't necessarily think rock 'n' roll. Sure, he cut his teeth in rock bands such as the Towne Cryers, and Brahman, and was also the keyboardist in Terry Jack's No. 1 tune "Seasons in the Sun." But he is known more for his soothing, piano and synthesizer works on such recordings as "Cristofori's Dream," "Sacred Road" and the Grammy-nominated "East of the Moon." However, the British Invasion has always stuck with Lanz, to the point of him recording the 1998 "Songs from an English Garden," on which he performed instrumental versions of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" and the Moody Blues' "Tuesday Afternoon." This year, he was bitten by the British bug again and arranged and recorded various Beatles songs for "Liverpool: Re-imagining the Beatles," which was released earlier this year on Moonboy Records. The idea for the CD emerged when flutist Gary Stroutsos asked Lanz to provide ambient synthesizer soundscapes for a project. "Gary decided he wanted to get a song off of 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,' 'Within You Without You,' " Lanz said. "I did an arrangement for him and thought it would be fun to do an ambient Beatles cover album, like 'Meditating with the Beatles.' "So I started listening and before I knew it, I was deep into a concept of doing my own record," Lanz said. Lanz knew, however, there were risks of covering Beatles songs. "I didn't want to pick any of the giant hits because they've already been done so many times," he said. "I was initially going for songs that had a richer emotional vibe. "I didn't want to do 'Yesterday' because that is one of the most covered songs in the history of pop music," he said. "I looked at 'Things We Said Today.' I liked that song when I was a kid because it had this energy to it. Part of it was the minor chord. And I wanted songs like 'I'm Only Sleeping' and 'Because.' I wanted different kind of songs that weren't so much on the radio, but interesting pieces of music." Lanz, whose favorite Beatles album is "Rubber Soul," also wanted the music to retain its integrity. "I didn't want this record to sound like Muzak," he said. "I tried to extract the medley and make a David Lanz CD. I wanted it to be like I was in collaboration with John and Paul." After the CD's initial mix, Lanz and Stroutsos took a trip to Liverpool, England. "It was really something," Lanz said. "It gave a different dimension to the recording and for me in general." Through the National Trust, they were able to visit the Fab Four's individual childhood homes, the Cavern Club, Penny Lane and other spots critical to the Beatles' formative years, Lanz said. "I actually played the piano in Paul McCartney's childhood home," he said. "So that goes on the resume. Of course Paul wasn't there." Lanz also spent some time in John Lennon's bedroom. "I was alone at that point and it is hard to describe," Lanz said. "But the spirit of the place was really strong. John's spirit felt like it was in that room where he spent a lot of time thinking and doing his creative dreaming and such. "It was kind of like going to Mecca." Once the CD was finished, Lanz had to get special permission to release the CD because of the nature of the arrangements, he said. "Because of the way I treated the music, I actually crossed a line into interpolations," Lanz said. "[The CD] had to go all the way through the Sony offices, up to the top guy, who had to sign off it and say it was OK if I released it." Luckily everyone appreciated what Lanz did. "Which is good, because usually they throw out requests like that all the time, but I'm free to perform and distribute this music now." Lanz is happy with the CD and said he's already had a lot of positive feedback. "I've been lucky because people have told me they forgot they were listening to a Beatles song until they hear a phrase that brings them back in. And that's the effect I was trying to get to." One of his fans is friend Kurt Bestor. "He was really excited and got what I was going for right away," Lanz said. For the concerts at the Covey Center, Lanz said he will perform many songs from the new CD, as well as his trademark works and some holiday tunes. "I'm unofficially calling it 'Christmas with the Beatles,' " he said. "So it's a holiday-flavored David Lanz concert and I think it's going to be a nice blend." While Lanz's current tour features his trio — Stroutsos and cellist Walter Gray — the Covey Center concerts will feature Lanz as a solo artist. Covey Center general manager Paul Duerden said he is looking forward to the concerts. "David Lanz is one of my favorite New Age artists," Duerden said. "His songs are easy to work and listen to at the same time. David is a delight to work with and is very engaging with his audiences. "We are having him come back this year because of how fast he sold out last year and because of the large number of requests we had to turn away." If you go... David Lanz Where: Covey Center for the Arts, 425 W. Center St., Provo When: Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20-$25 Info: (801) 852-7007, www.coveycenter.org This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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