FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Easy Piano Music

Question:
I have to say that pinpointing a hard and fast genre for solo-piano music is certainly not an easy task. Do the New Age enthusiasts and radio programmers consider George Winston, for example, New Age? As a pianist who just released my 2nd solo-piano CD, I am interested in trying to pursue opportunities with the RIGHT people in the right genre. Any comments on if piano music is alive and well within the New Age classification????? Or is Easy Listening or Acoustic or some other classification more suited for piano music?

Answer:
> Well, I have to say that pinpointing a hard and fast genre for solo-piano > music is certainly not an easy task. Not when the compositions are original, no. Unless you're a jazz pianist. > Do the New Age enthusiasts and radio programmers consider George Winston, > for example, New Age? Yes and no. Depends on the album. One fairly recent debacles in the new age music industry, IMO, was when George Winston's tribute album to Vince Guaraldi (released two or three years ago) kept landing on Billboard's New age Music charts, despite the fact that Guaraldi is absolutely considered a jazz legend. But since most of what George Winston does release is more closely categorized as new age music, it was thrown in there. What a freakin' farce! The music was no more new agey than any other mainstream jazz CD. > As a pianist who just released my 2nd solo-piano CD, I am interested in > trying to pursue opportunities with the RIGHT people in the right genre. The right people? What do you mean? The right promoters? The right whoelsalers? The right retailers? As for the right genre, unless your music is non-original or is (more or less) jazz, there is no other place for it but new age music (or if it's closer to classical, it could go there, although I don't know a single store that puts solo piano, no matter how well done it is or how closely linked it is to pure classical music, in that particular section). > Any comments on if piano music is alive and well within the New Age > classification????? Or is Easy Listening or Acoustic or some other > classification more suited for piano music? Thanks. I can tell you don't follow new age music, do you? Solo piano has never _stopped_ being popular in new age music, i.e. there are still many many releases every year. It's a _very_ competitive sub-genre, since it contains some fairly well established names (to say the least)as well as many newcomers as well. For example, I currently have, I think, 6 different pianists' CDs on my desk waiting for reviews. Some of these are quite original (more experimental in nature) some are more introspective (like Winston) and others are straight ahead relaxing piano music. Personally, I label solo or ensemble acoustic instrumental recordings as new acoustic but that's my own term. I consider new age music to be more along the lines of Dean Evenson, Llewellyn, Medwyn Goodall, et al. New acoustic includes artists like Tingstad and Rumbel, Arnold Mitchem, and many others. The more prominent pianists take turns releasing solo albums along with other more diverse ventures, such as Suzanne Ciani who has recorded solo piano, acoustic ensemble, and electronic keyboard albums. Then there is David Lanz who, IMO, is more of an adult contemporary (AC) artist, since his music is more overtly commercial, again IMO. As for easy listening, I prefer the term above (AC) to easy listening. In Europe, a term used to describe non-spiritual new age music is (believe it or not) mood music. Which is weird because it has less than favorable connotations here in the US, IMO (kinda like Mantiovanni or Ray Conniff crossed with lounge music, I guess). Anyway, there's my two bits for you.