David Lanz – Painting the Sun

David Lanz – Painting the Sun
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 48:38 min | 114 MB | 2008 | 10% Recovery Record

The master new age piano pioneer took a cool and rhythmic detour in the early 2000s, working with some top smooth jazz stars to create a spirited, radio-friendly hybrid he playfully referred to as “smooth age.” After returning to his roots (and his original label, Narada) with the atmospheric Spirit Romance, his 2005 dual project with flutist Gary Stroutsos, Lanz, on his beautiful and impressionistic Shanachie debut Painting the Sun, comes full-circle back to the elegant and contemplative (but still engagingly melodic) solo piano vibe that launched his career 25 years earlier. His original idea for the album title was “A Time for Peace,” but taking a walk around his Seattle area home on a sunny spring day found him looking up and thinking about the artistic spirit of one’s soul and energy–which is what has always emerged in his deepest musings throughout his career. Beyond the eloquently stated originals (highlighted by the hypnotic title track, the highly improvisational “Spanish Blue,” a thoughtful “Hymn,” and the dark toned, moody “Evening Song”), Lanz mines the familiar ground of his musical influences as he covers the Pete Seeger-composed Byrds classic “Turn Turn Turn.” This lush reading continues in the whimsical spirit of his 1998 British Invasion tribute Songs from an English Garden. Lanz did well crossing over with smooth audiences, but this long-awaited project makes it clear that he expresses his truest heart when he’s sitting at the piano channeling heavenly inspiration.

David Lanz – Love Songs

David Lanz – Love Songs
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 1:09:00 min | 171 MB | 2001 | 10% Recovery Record

Love Songs showcases pianist-composer David Lanz in perhaps his most affecting setting–performing solo, or with modest accompaniment, as he summons lovely, heart-touching melodies from some deep, internal reservoir of passion and clarity. The disc is a sampler that draws from seven pre-2000 recordings (plus one live track, an attractive performance of “The Eyes of Amelia” with guitarist Eric Tingstad and oboist Nancy Rumbel), and it features several of Lanz’s best-known works–from the famed title track of Cristofori’s Dream to a pair of selections (“Song for Monet” and “Leaves on the Seine”)more… from his masterful 1984 release, Nightfall. The recording’s concept and title were dreamt up by his former label, since Lanz views himself not as a romantic but merely as an enlightened pilgrim. Only once, he has stated, has he ever written a song with overt romantic intentions–“Leaves on the Seine,” which he composed after a visit to Paris with his wife. The rest, he says, simply reflect his optimistic view of a more compassionate world to come. This helps explain the sentimental overload that sometimes creeps into his works. (The schmaltz police, for example, might write him up for a few excesses on “Beloved.”) Yet Lanz’s heart is ultimately in the right place, and his simple but earnest music makes a persuasive argument for putting yours there, too.

David Lanz – Return To The Heart

David Lanz – Return To The Heart
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 1:01:20 min | 150 MB | 1991 | 10% Recovery Record

“It’s all about a hope for a brighter future,” David says. “It’s my hope that we can all rediscover a positive, uplifting outlook on life, then use that feeling to motivate us to live lives that can positively influence those around us: our families, our communities and, at some point, the entire world. It all starts, I believe, with a return to the heart.” – David Lanz

David Lanz – Romantic (The Ultimate David Lanz Narada Collection)

David Lanz – Romantic (The Ultimate David Lanz Narada Collection)
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 2:11:37 min | 316 MB | 2002 | 2 CD’s | 10% Recovery Record

David Lanz’s decade-spanning career is given an overview on the 2002 collection Romantic: The Ultimate David Lanz Narada Collection. His piano-based instrumental compositions have sold millions of records, making him one of Narada’s most successful artists, and this retrospective assembles 27 of his sentimental works in a two-disc set. Perfect for listeners interested in discovering the artist and longtime fans who will enjoy having all of his best-known songs in one place.

David Lanz, Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel – Woodlands

David Lanz, Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel – Woodlands
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 43:01 min | 106 MB | 1990 | 10% Recovery Record

Woodlands is a CD of largely acoustic soundworlds by Eric Tingstad, Nancy Rumbel, and David Lanz. It is gentle and ambient. The sound design incorporates the finest efforts of these gifted artists. Tingstad’s guitars are, as always, smooth; Rumbel’s winds are silken; and Lanz’s piano is mellow. The combination creates a pastoral soundscape, complete with organic and elegant textures. This CD, while not the best work of Tingstad & Rumbel, is still very strong and enjoyable. It will appeal to fans of Lisa Lynne, Kitaro, Gary Stroutsos, and Jonn Serrie.

David Lanz – The Symphonic Sessions

David Lanz – The Symphonic Sessions
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 52:19 min | 129 MB | 2003 | 10% Recovery Record

David Lanz brings a deep sensitivity and passion to his music. Accompanied by the elegance of an orchestra, his music is filled with a grandeur, power, and richness unlike anything else. THE SYMPHONIC SESSIONS bring together Lanz’s most popular and powerful performances in an orchestral setting for a musical experience to be treasured for years to come.

David Lanz – Best of David Lanz (2005)

David Lanz – Best of David Lanz (2005)
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 53:24 min | 133 MB | 2005 | 10% Recovery Record

A friend gave me The Best of David Lanz for my birthday several years ago, and even now I listen to this album all the way through at least once a week. I listen over dinner, while working, in the car; it’s a fantastic compilation of intricate, relaxing music.

David Lanz – Songs From an English Garden

David Lanz – Songs From an English Garden
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 50:02 min | 124 MB | 1998 | 10% Recovery Record

As David Lanz demonstrates Songs From an English Garden, his first ambition in life was to be a rock & roll pianist based on the music he grew up with in the ’60s. Having done brilliant orchestral, rock, and solo piano versions of Moody Blues, Procol Harum, and Beatles classics throughout his discography, this colorful new tribute to the British Invasion can be seen as simply an extension, a case of the more, the merrier. No doubt his main obstacle laid in not creating muzak versions of these well worn hits, and his arrangements — and use of unusual instrumentation and vibrant guest shots by Dave Koz and Herb Alpert — reflect careful respect on his part. Lanz plays Peralta bells, for instance, on a percussive take of the Hollies’ “Bus Stop,” and creates a staccato, stop and start effect combining piano and orchestra. He asks original Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher to add a touch of blues to the castanet clapping Latin vibe of that band’s hit “Conquistador” and swings through a brassy rendition of “Tuesday Afternoon,” alternating ivory registers (as the original did) and adding the ’70s touch of the Wurlitzer electric piano. Dealing with simple melodies like “I’ll Follow the Sun” and “Ferry Cross the Mersey,” he also creates original passages that introduce the main tune, while stripping down to basics on a poignant rendition of “Strawberry Fields Forever.” That same tender grace characterizes the original title track as well as the other original piece, the rainy day portrait “London Blue,” which provides an appropriate setting for some of British rock’s most beloved treasures.

David Lanz – Skyline Firedance

David Lanz – Skyline Firedance
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 1:26:02 min | 213 MB | 1990 | 2 CD’s | 10% Recovery Record

Just when you thought the folks at new age haven Narada couldn’t top 1990s Wilderness Collection and the Narada Nutcracker in terms of musical events, along came perhaps the year’s most ambitious and exquisite instrumental project from new age’s top star, the melodic, rhythmic super-pianist David Lanz. Having shown a mastery of the ivories on 1988s top genre release Cristofori’s Dream, Lanz entered the new decade determined to top even himself… what he has achieved is nothing short of a true musical miracle, a dynamic two CD (for the price of one) set featuring the same inspiring compositions performed as solo piano pieces and then with Munich’s IFS Philharmonic Orchestra. Similar to and influenced by David Foster’s The Symphony Sessions, this body of work cements Lanz’s status in new age, whether he likes the title or not. The collection’s finest moments find Lanz campaigning for world peace (“Dancing on the Berlin Wall,” “The Crane”) and covering the Moody Blues’ classical-rock gem “Nights in White Satin” to near orgasmic effect on the orchestral disc. Skyline Firedance is one of his best works, a modern musical masterpiece.

David Lanz – Sacred Road

David Lanz – Sacred Road
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 48:01 min | 116 MB | 1996 | 10% Recovery Record

“This music chronicles my Sacred Road, yet it is a journey we can all take…a journey inward where the travelers are transformed and discover the gift of our true being.” – David Lanz

David Lanz – Cristofori’s Dream

David Lanz – Cristofori’s Dream
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 45:49 min | 113 MB | 1994 | 10% Recovery Record

David Lanz’s Cristofori’s Dream is among the most popular new age recordings ever made. This is an album of instrumental piano music (with other instruments, especially strings and string-like synthesizers, added). Its selections have a calm elegance, as Lanz spends most of his time in the upper register of the piano delivering precise, articulated melodies, culminating in a re-creation of Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” that features original organist Matthew Fisher.

David Lanz – The Good Life

David Lanz – The Good Life
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 43:27 min | 108 MB | 2004 | 10% Recovery Record

David Lanz built his reputation on sentimental solo piano themes, notably the title theme from 1988’s New Age chart topping disc, Cristofori’s Dream. He’s expanded his repertoire over the years with various ensemble and orchestral recordings, but the core of his sound has always been sweet, romantic compositions dressed in faux-classical filigree. That ain’t The Good Life. Lanz comments in his liner notes that The Good Life is “extroverted, uptempo, light hearted.” In an attempt at reinvention, Lanz resorts to smooth jazz calculations with snappy rhythms, melodies that slipped off the cruise ship lounge and arrangements bought cut-rate at the strip mall. Smooth jazz hired guns are brought in, including saxophonist Eric Marienthal and keyboardists Jeff Lorber and Gregg Karukas, who also co-produced the disc. They conspire to give The Good Life a generically slick sheen, but it lacks even the hint of a soul, not even a Jimmy Buffett-good-time soul. The Good Life is ultimately lifeless.

David Lanz – Heartsounds

David Lanz – Heartsounds
MP3 @ 192 Kbps | 44:34 min | 44.5 MB | 1983 | 10% Recovery Record

Heartsounds is a unique and exciting collection of new acoustic piano music. The album combines a virtuoso performance with inventive melodies which evoke exuberant, vibrant musical expressions. Lanz has a very personal style in the impressionistic mode with each composition creating a breathtakingly beautiful statement…

David Lanz – Finding Paradise

David Lanz – Finding Paradise
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 46:06 min | 115 MB | 2002 | 10% Recovery Record

The sweeping, piano-driven sounds of David Lanz approach the 20-year mark on Finding Paradise, his 2002 release. With his usual sentimental arrangements and crew of session musicians, this is exactly what one would expect from a David Lanz album. This could have been made in 1987 or in 1995 — it has the timeless sound of smooth jazz and new age that has become a favorite of waiting rooms and grocery stores around the country. Lanz is an acquired taste, but fans of the Kenny G/Najee school of music should find this to be a fine addition to their collections.

David Lanz – East of the Moon

David Lanz – East of the Moon
MP3 @ 192 Kbps | 56:37 min | 85.3 MB | 2000 | 10% Recovery Record

Setting the standard for instrumental piano music since the mid-’80s, when the term “new age” was the fashionable way to label it, David Lanz has worked ambitiously with orchestra before, most notably on 1990’s Skyline Firedance. On his Phillips debut East of the Moon, however, he creates a majestic, dual-themed recording unlike any in his bestselling Narada Records catalog. First, he delves into a spirited intertwining of Greek mythology and rock & roll, then formulates a classically-influenced, six-movement suite declaring his hope for a “World at Peace.” Initially, Hugh Padgham seems to be an odd production choice on Lanz’s part, but the producer — best known for his pop classics with Sting, Melissa Etheridge, and Phil Collins — builds a lively, rocking environment around the first tunes: the Irish-scented “The Green Man” (which begins with a Collins-esque drum fill and finds Lanz dancing over uilleann pipes and pennywhistle) and the symphonic, hard-blues, organ-based “Dancing With Dionysus.” While Lanz enjoys jamming more than ever before, his feathery ivory intertwining with Dave Heath’s flute on “Chasing Aphrodite” reminds us of his command with graceful piano ballads. Though the “World at Peace” has its booming orchestral swells, this same sort of gentle sway and sparse, acoustic piano melody approach (with touches of flute and violin) are the dominant sounds driving Lanz’s soaring millennial vision from “Declaration” and “Prayer of Peace” through “Renaissance” and “Transformation.”

David Lanz – Beloved

David Lanz – Beloved
MP3 @ 256 Kbps | 1:02:46 min | 128 MB | 1995 | 10% Recovery Record

The process of selecting my most ‘romantic’ music for this collection offered the perfect opportunity to reflect on just what qualities or elements I feel ‘romance’ embodies. What immediately comes to mind is the special something two people experience when love is in the air. Beyond this though, romance is so much more – something many of us yearn for at a deeper soul level. When we look into the eyes of another, or when we view a breathtaking sunset, or we see the radiance in the face of an innocent child, what we really see is the reflection of soul… our beloved.

David Lanz – An Evening with David Lanz

David Lanz – An Evening with David Lanz
MP3 @ 256 Kbps | 1:14:55 min | 151 MB | 1999 | 10% Recovery Record

Solo performances recorded live delivered with the sensitivity, passion, and unparalleled skill of a contemporary instrumental master – this is David Lanz at his very best.

David Lanz – Cup Of Moonlight

David Lanz – Cup Of Moonlight
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 47:37 min | 119 MB | 2007 | 10% Recovery Record

A CUP OF MOONLIGHT certainly proves one thing – David Lanz is at his best when he goes solo. Added strings of smooth jazz textures do sometimes add a greater sense of romance to his elegant melodies, but when all the excess is stripped away and the real Lanz shows, it’s magic. The album is easily his most pensive and subtle to date, with cascading piano that’s like comfort food for the ears. For example, on the track “Ambient Plains,” Lanz takes a spacious, almost zen-like approach to the melody, where every note feels like it has a purpose. Others, like “A Song of Soul” and “True Nature” display Lanz’s compositional prowess with light, reflective melodies. Put this album on when you want to hear something that will relax you.

David Lanz – Nightfall

David Lanz – Nightfall
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 43:23 min | 107 MB | 1985 | 10% Recovery Record

“Nightfall” was David Lanz’s second album. Purely solo piano, this album contains some of Lanz’s classics. The album contains six tracks that range from four to ten minutes in length, giving the record a relaxed, leisurely feeling. The pieces include “Leaves on the Seine,” “Courage of the Wind,” Water From the Moon,” and “Faces of the Forest.” “Nightfall” is still available in its original form, and also as a remastered set with “Heartsounds,” Lanz’s debut recording on Narada.