This week, Ira Sternberg spoke with Lao Tizer.
Pianist, keyboardist and composer Lao Tizer, performing with The Lao Tizer Band at The Smith Center February 9-10, boasts a career that now spans nine albums over nearly a quarter of a century.
He was a teenage prodigy, the son of hippies with a Russian-Jewish background, and the mix of that ethnic family heritage, parental new age influence and growing up with the sights and sounds of '80s and '90s pop culture (alongside the music of the '60s and '70s he heard from his parents) encouraged him to embrace a wider range of influences and stretch himself and his players.
The evolution of the Lao Tizer Band is revealed in Songs From The Swinghouse. Tizer incorporated a vocalist into the recording and touring band. "I spent my whole life writing instrumental music, and now I'm working on original material for the group including vocals."
Ultimately, Tizer eschews being formulaic. "I try and just stay true to my muse and to use every bit of my facility to create great music that hopefully has its own voice and continues to evolve as I continue to evolve as a person. It's very reflective of me, it's all I've done all my life."