New Age Meets British Invasion
The first track of the new David Lanz CD is called “Sitting in an English Garden,” a title that reflects both sides of the talented Mr. Lanz.
On one side, we have the gentle, New Age feel of a springtime afternoon in Kew Gardens.
On the other, we have the manic feel of the Beatles bellowing out the line, “Sitting in an English garden, waiting for the sun,” from “I Am the Walrus.”
That’s Lanz: half New Age piano tinkler, half card-carrying member of the Beatles generation.
His solo concert at The Met on Sunday will undoubtedly concentrate on his New Age side, given the season. This show is billed as a celebration of “the spirit and the season.”
He will play a number of tunes from his spare and evocative “Christmas Eve” CD, as well as tunes from “Cristofori’s Dream,” one of the best-selling New Age albums of all time. That 1988 CD was No. 1 for more than six months on the adult-alternative/New Age charts, and earned Lanz a gold record, an unusual feat in the New Age genre. He has 11 other CDs to draw from, too.
But this Seattle pianist will also play songs from his new CD, “Songs From an English Garden,” which pays tribute to the British Invasion music of his youth. The first track is, in fact, inspired by “I Am the Walrus” and contains a number of melodic references to songs from that era.
The rest of the CD consists of Lanz, accompanied by a jazzy band and sometimes even an orchestra, performing covers of British invasion tunes. There’s “As Tears Go By” and “Ruby Tuesday” from the Rolling Stones; “Bus Stop” from the Hollies; “Ferry Across the Mersey” from Gerry and the Pacemakers; “Tuesday Afternoon” from the Moody Blues; “Conquistador” from Procol Harum; “Sunny Afternoon” from the Kinks; and “Strawberry Fields Forever” from the Beatles.
“Doing classic tunes in unique ways is a way for me to bridge the gap between those who love strictly New Age music with others who share my love for rock-and-roll’s rich legacy,” Lanz said in the album’s promotional material.
Lanz was in fact a budding Seattle rock-and-roller back in the ‘60s, forming a band called The Town Criers at age 13. He loved boogie-woogie piano, and he later moved into blues and jazz. He even played piano on one of pop music’s more infamous songs, the dreadful “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks in 1974. He was sharing a studio with Jacks in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the time.
“I never told him what I thought of the song, but I said I could put a piano part in there,” said Lanz. “I thought it was just complete bubble gum.”
Lanz is a funny and voluble presence on stage, another unusual trait in New Age musicians. This will be his second appearance at The Met. He played a concert back in 1995 and was scheduled for a repeat show in November 1996 when a calamity called Ice Storm intervened. He had to cancel the show.
The weather report looks better for this appearance. It should be a pleasant afternoon for “Sitting in an English Garden.”
PREVIEW David Lanz performs Sunday at 3 p.m. at The Met, 901 W. Sprague. Tickets: $23, available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets or call (800) 325-SEAT.