I was classically trained as a pianist but every once in a while I just want to play something fun and light and more in the "New Age" style. Some of my favorites are David Lanz, William Joseph, Jon Schmidt, and Jason Lyle Black (a former piano student of mine).
I first heard William Joseph a year or two ago and thought he had some fun songs and some beautiful, relaxing ones to sit down and play and get lost in thought. (A good stress relief for me during my otherwise hectic day). I own two of his books, Beyond, and Within. There are plenty of other songs I'd like to learn as well, and I found that you can order them individually if you don't want the entire book.
I purchased the Within book before I realized that you could just get it as a sing sheet music, and that's the only one I really love in that book, so unless you love the others, you could go that route instead. Here's a sample of William Joseph playing Within. It's slightly different than the written-out version (a pet-peeve of mine).
William Joseph playing "Within"
In the Beyond book, my favorites are Standing the Storm, Sweet Remembrance of You, A Mother's Heart, and Return with Honor.
Standing the Storm
Sweet Remembrance of You
A Mother's Heart
Return with Honor
Next is David Lanz. I heard my older brother play some of his pieces back when I was a kid, especially Cristofori's Dream and couldn't wait until I could learn them myself. These are intermediate level and pretty relaxing to play (my piano teacher at the time disliked "New Age" music and said it was the kind of stuff you listened to on the massage table--I'm not thoroughly convinced that is a bad thing. :) ) Definitely fluff compared to Bach, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, but you've got to have some dessert every now in then to keep going, in my humble opinion.
David Lanz- Cristofori's Dream
I'll be back with part 2 of the New Age pieces soon. And then I'll return to Classical music, I promise. ;) Do you have any favorite New Age composers/pieces?
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