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LANA LANE RECORDS NEW STUDIO
MASTERPIECE, "WINTER SESSIONS" (Los Angeles, 1 November 2003) Following her acclaimed
2002 releases, Project
Shangri-La and Covers
Collection, Lana Lane continues in her tradition
of masterful studio albums with her 2003 release,
Winter Sessions, a bold
new project containing both original material and select
cover songs. After returning from a European Tour in the
summer of 2003, Lana began recording a new set of songs all
based on winter themes. With the production direction of
husband and keyboardist virtuoso, Erik Norlander, Lana set
out to create a very melancholy, moody and atmospheric album
in high contrast to her other recent releases which have
tended to be more in a hard rock / heavy metal direction.
While clearly a fan of rock and metal, Lana also loves music
with deeper melodic and harmonic content -- music with
complex chord progressions and elaborate orchestral-style
arrangements. This is the direction of
Winter Sessions.
Erik Norlander's highly identifiable keyboard work is omnipresent on the album from commanding piano passages to shimmering Mellotron orchestras to blazing Hammond organ and Modular Moog analog synthesizer leads. Following in the footsteps of his epic Music Machine rock opera, Erik's keyboard work on Winter Sessions is nothing short of masterful. Erik's moving Hammond organ rendition of the Procol Harum classic, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is particularly notable. And no Lana Lane album would be complete without a trio of world-class guitarists, blending styles and sounds to create the ultimate six-string orchestra. Veteran Lana Lane guitarist Neil Citron returns once again soloing with a grace and fluidity seldom heard in the modern guitar world. Neil's every note, every bend, every turn of vibrato brings added dimension to the deep Winter Sessions production. Rocket Scientists guitarist and vocalist Mark McCrite brings his high professional glow of acoustic guitar brilliance and melodic lead majesty to the album with purpose and authority. And the dense harmony vocal blend of Mark and Lana together is a well-known and immediately identifiable sound appearing on this album once more. Lastly, Winter Sessions marks the first Lana Lane studio appearance of Dutch master Peer Verschuren, the principle guitarist on Erik Norlander's Music Machine album released earlier in 2003. Peer has done two tours with Lana Lane, but due to logistical obstacles (not the least of which was the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks) has not recorded with Lana until now. Peer's speed and accuracy are truly something to behold, and all the while he retains the emotion is playing unlike so many modern shredder kids. And even above this brilliant collection of instrumentalists, what stands out the most on Winter Sessions is the legendary voice of singer Lana Lane. Lana's voice has the rare combination of passion, power and intimacy that is seldom heard from artists female or male. The elusive ability to emotionally deliver a lyric while maintaining accurate pitch and pleasing tone is part of the magic of Lana Lane. Not a screamer nor a whiner, Lana's vocals traverse the range of human emotions from sorrow to triumph and all that fall in between. Fronting an ensemble of the world's finest musicians and performing a songbook of old and new classics, Lana Lane delivers a powerful listening experience with Winter Sessions. Don't miss it! |
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Lana Lane - Winter Sessions contributing musicians: LANA LANE: lead and harmony
vocals MARK McCRITE: acoustic and
electric guitars, lap steel, harmony
vocals |
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LINER NOTES FROM ERIK
NORLANDER
After six studio albums, two ballad collections, one covers collection, two EPs, two tour CDs, many singles and specialty releases, a live album, several reissues and guest appearances too numerous to count ... what does a great artist like Lana Lane do next? The answer is obvious ... keep on going! This album is a snapshot of several months of the life of Lana Lane and many of the great musicians that surround her. The recordings have a more moody and dreamlike quality than previous studio albums such as Project Shangri-La and Secrets of Astrology, but they are also quite energized at the same time -- nothing sleepy or dreary here. While Winter Sessions contains some of the most beautiful ballads Lana has released to date, this is not merely another ballad collection. Rather, it is a wholly new studio album, complete with songs ranging from epic orchestral ballads such as "What a World" and "Carnivale" to uptempo rockers like "December Moon" and "Carry Me Home". But it is not a studio album like any Lana has released before. Winter Sessions is a concept album about ... well ... winter! And it's not about just the months of December through March, rather, the concept of winter is explored metaphorically as well. Many of the songs describe endings: endings of life, endings of relationships, endings of seasons. But often endings bring new beginnings, and so their is a bright and hopeful quality to many of the songs. Just as the season of winter ends each calendar year, so again does it begin a new one. That spirit can be heard in many of the songs on Winter Sessions. The album employs an impressive list of musicians, and this roster surely gives Winter Sessions its unique and beautiful sound and atmosphere. We had begun working with drummer Gregg Bissonette at the very end of the Project Shangri-La album where he played on the John Wetton song, "I Believe in You", the bonus track to the Japanese edition and later also released on our 2003 European Tour CD. We went to work with Gregg extensively on last year's Covers Collection, and Gregg also played on many tracks of my 2003 rock opera, Music Machine. With impeccable time and tremendous versatility, Gregg's drumming adds a deep dimension to the Lana Lane sound. And like all of the musicians on this album, he is truly a joy to work with. Don Schiff continues his extensive string of Lana Lane appearances here, and perhaps this is Don's most significant work with us yet. Not to minimize Don's past appearances, but this time Don has really spread his wings by bringing out many different facets of the gem that is the NS/Stick. While he has acted primarily as a rock-solid bassist on past projects, on Winter Sessions, Don truly played this very unique NS/Stick instrument to its full potential. Not restricted to just bass lines this time, Don also played many guitar and piano-like arpeggios, chord comps and melodic leads which come through particularly clearly on the two jazz standards, "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Ill Wind". Speaking of jazz standards, what also really brings these venerable songs alive is the stunning saxophone work of Don's brother, David Schiff. Dave's beautiful sense of melody and deep understanding of harmony are clearly evidenced in his performances throughout not only the jazz tracks, but throughout the entire album. And as any professional sax player would, Dave doubles ably on flute and oboe. Dave's flute track on "What a World" really captures the spirit of this very melancholy song, and then contrastingly, his flute solo on "California Dreaming" evokes memories of the original 60s version while bringing something new and fresh to our cover version. Dave's emotional oboe track on "Carnivale" also is an essential part of that song. I believe the oboe really sets not only the mood for the song, but also sets a visual stage for the story of a traveling circus fallen on hard times. Somehow we can't just use one guitar player. I don't know why this is -- we know so many great ones, it seems that it would easy to just call one guy and have him do everything on the record. But maybe that is precisely the reason why we do bring in so many guitarists. When I'm doing pre-production, I'll think to myself, "Oh, Neil will solo perfectly over these changes", or perhaps "I'm definitely counting on Mark's 12-string acoustic here", or "This one surely needs Peer's heavy rhythm work and some of his trademark harmony soloing". As Lana's "Carnivale" song says, "So it goes, it's on with the show!", and each of these fabulous guitarists are brought in to lend their specialties to the recording. The result, I believe, is a a multi-dimensional sound and atmosphere that one musician could not create alone. And by now, you have surely figured out from this essay that this is indeed the deep quality we were after for this project. So get ready for a journey into a vast landscape and join us for the Lana Lane - Winter Sessions! Erik Norlander |
Lana Lane - Winter Sessions track list with musician and songwriter credits:
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1. WHAT A WORLD
[5:03] Lana Lane - lead
vocal
2. SPIRIT OF THE
GYPSY [8:21] Lana Lane - lead and harmony vocals
3. A WHITER SHADE OF
PALE [4:58] Lana Lane - lead vocal
4. DECEMBER
MOON [6:06] Lana Lane - lead and harmony vocals
5. I'LL BE SEEING
YOU [4:04] Lana Lane - lead vocal |
6. CARNIVALE (Let it
Rain) [6:20] Lana Lane - lead vocal
7. CARRY ME HOME
[5:33] Lana Lane - lead vocal
8. ILL WIND (You're Blowin' Me
No Good)
[4:24] Lana Lane - lead vocal
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9. CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
[4:02] Lana Lane - lead vocal
10. WINTER SONG
[5:02] Lana Lane - lead and backing vocals
11. TERMINUS PRO
TEMPORE [5:15] Lana Lane - lead vocal
PRODUCED BY ERIK NORLANDER
Total running time . . . 59:30 |
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Lana Lane - Winter Sessions release dates: Japan: November 21, 2003 on the Avalon
label All versions contain the identical track listing - there are no bonus tracks on any edition. :-) |
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© 2003 Think Tank Media
