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Acclaimed keyboardist, composer and bandleader Lao Tizer today shares Amplify, the anticipated new album (and video release) from The Lao Tizer Band. The album sees Tizer continuing to knock down boundaries and expand musical horizons. In particular, the band broke a personal boundary by including their first ever original vocal tracks on the album with the help of American Idol sensation and RIAA Platinum Certified singer Elliott Yamin. Yamin provides lead vocals on Amplify’s 5 original vocal tracks including the previously released videos/singles, “Shades of Love,” and the R&B-tinged “Down.”
The album was recorded and filmed all LIVE at legendary EastWest Studios in Hollywood with a simultaneous 7-camera video shoot directed by acclaimed music-film director, Andy LaViolette (Snarky Puppy) with the audio portion engineered and mixed by Caleb Parker (Scary Pockets, Vulfpeck).
To support Amplify, Tizer and band have already embarked on an extensive run of tour dates (see upcoming dates below).
“Amplify is the culmination of years of composition, arrangement, performance and a lot of dreaming, so to have it released to the world today is extra special. The album marks a big milestone of evolution for us, and I’m so proud of the amazing cast of musicians, vocalists, engineers, director, editor and crew that brought this most ambitious project to life. To accomplish an entire 9 song project, recorded and filmed all live in 2 days is really a feat and a testament to an amazing team of people who brought their absolute A+ game. For me personally, I dug as deep as I ever have for anything in my career to accomplish this project, and that alone gives me great pride and satisfaction. Now it’s up to the listeners, viewers and reviewers to digest and tell us how the project impacts them, and I’m excited for that and for the year ahead and many new horizons.” – Lao Tizer
The Lao Tizer Band recently shared the 3rd video/single and the first original instrumental from the project, “The Labyrinth” featuring violinist extraordinaire Karen Briggs (Yanni, Stanley Clarke) and flute wunderkind Danny Janklow (MONKestra, Shelea) backed by a GRAMMY-winning rhythm section.
“Shades of Love,” was the first original song the band ever performed with vocals, breaking new ground for the band’s sound and leading to Amplify, and “Down” was the band’s first single release from the album earlier this Summer.
“”Shades of Love” represents a significant milestone for me as a songwriter and bandleader, as well as encapsulating much of what the band is about; accessible songs with extensive space for improvisation, spontaneity and high-level musicianship,” shared Tizer.
“Elliott [Yamin] has been an unbelievable fit for this project and the band,” Tizer enthuses about the American Idol star after the release of “Down.” “He’s very much a throwback to a blue-eyed soul kind of vocalist. This project was a little different from his usual wheelhouse, but he’s such a naturally gifted singer that he ran with it, adding his amazingly soulful style to our harmonic, rhythmic and compositional sensibilities. He sings his butt off.”
The crossover sound that Tizer and his band explored on their previous album, 2018’s Songs From The Swinghouse, is further realized on Amplify with Yamin joining Tizer’s A-list ensemble who apply their magic to an exciting mix of smartly-grooved instrumentals and original vocal songs.
But as much as Yamin’s vocal tracks are poised to knock listeners out, their proximity to the Tizer-penned instrumentals on Amplify can’t help but highlight the keyboardist’s uncanny ability to bring an equal measure of infectiousness, excitement, and accessibility to the instrumentals on the project.
“With this record, I definitely made a conscious effort to crossover to win over more general music fans,” says Tizer. “If you have music that is melodic and grooves, you can win over a broad array of listeners.”
Without sacrificing his trademark musical sophistication, Tizer pulls this off with an almost Steely Dan-like savvy, seamlessly incorporating a host of other modern influences–from jazz to R&B to world beat to jam band–into the music on Amplify.
Invaluable to this is his band that features GRAMMY-winning saxophonist Eric Marienthal (Chick Corea), Emmy-winning guitarist Chieli Minucci (Special EFX), Senegalese bassist Cheikh N'Doye (Baaba Maal), GRAMMY-winning drum phenom Gene Coye (Hiromi) and legendary GRAMMY-winning percussionist Munyungo Jackson (Stevie Wonder), as well as Rolling Stone 2022 “Bassist of the Year” nominee Anthony Crawford (Erykah Badu).
With Amplify, Tizer sets the stage for a wider audience with a broad, enticing, and personal musical vision–without a boundary in sight.
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