David Lanz

David Lanz ranks among the leading figures in solo instrumental and adult alternative music. During his teenage years he performed with multiple rock groups before honing a distinctive solo piano approach at a modest Seattle venue. There he gradually wove original compositions into the club’s obligatory repertoire of standards and contemporary hits, prompting such enthusiastic audience approval that his sets soon consisted almost entirely of his own pieces. His initial solo piano recordings continue to rank among the Narada imprint’s strongest sellers. Two joint projects with guitarist Paul Speer also reached the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. As his audience expanded nationwide, Lanz increasingly explored larger ensembles, a progression that reached its fullest expression with the orchestral forces heard on Skyline Firedance (1990). Return to the Heart (1991) marked a deliberate return to unaccompanied piano, while Bridge of Dreams (1993) introduced his first vocal performances. He sustained a steady output through the remainder of the decade, releasing Christmas Eve in 1994, Sacred Road in 1996, Songs from an English Garden in 1998, An Evening with David Lanz in 1999, and East of the Moon the following year. Throughout the twenty-first century he has continued to record at a prolific pace, issuing numerous original albums, tribute projects, the live recording Liverpool Trio: Live in Seoul, and multiple compilations.