One very special young talent that caught the ear of guitarist
Chieli Minucci
is the young fusion pianist
Lao Tizer
. The pianist played acoustic grand piano on
Minucci
's 1998 hit with
Special EFX
entitled
Masterpiece
on a song called
"Awakening,"
but prior to his recording date with
,
had sold in excess of 50,000 self-produced CDs as a "street performer" and was being compared stylistically to the
Dave Matthews Band
or perhaps
Bruce Hornsby
.
Tizer
's debut CD for
Frat House Records
is titled
Golden Soul
and was produced by his mentor
. The songs reveal the pop and jazz sensibilities of
the Lao Tizer Band
, which consists of
Christopher Maloney
on bass,
Shane Gaalaas
on drums, and
Jeff Kollman
on guitar. They play in a variety of formats that feature excellent percussionists, strings, brass, and woodwinds players on ten songs, all written by
. The songs speak from
's
"Golden Soul"
and along with his exceptional playing on both the acoustic piano and organ, the band is resplendent in their instrumental "coolness" precision and grace, which suggests that the transitions from pop to jazz have been positively accomplished.
"Her Poetry"
is beautiful and
"Enchantment"
shows the emotional side of
's reputation as an excellent pianist, composer, and arranger is justifiable and his debut
is clearly a prodigious effort that deserves wider recognition. ~ Paula Edelstein