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So what's the first thing that I noticed when I picked up Stanton Lanier's December Peace? The incredibly beautiful winter landscape featured in the cover photo. Ah, it's that time of year! And what is the second thing that caught my eye? The words "Produced by William Ackerman" on the back cover. William Ackerman, the new age guitar god who founded Windham Hill Records. Now I'm thinking that this Stanton Lanier fellow must be someone mighty remarkable, and he is.

December Peace is new age holiday fare of the loveliest sort. For the most part, the music is about Lanier, his piano, and and his wonderful, creative, and delicate arrangements of holiday favorites, as well as his presentation of six soft-spoken originals. In addition to his emotive piano playing, Lanier has a few talented friends come on board, adding superb classical touches with the English horn, cello, flugel horn, and the like. Oh, and Lanier includes a few "vocal" moments, but these are the ethereal "ghost in your attic" sort of vocals that disappear into the wall of instrumental sound. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Finally, Will Ackerman himself bangs the Hopi drum for effect on a tune or two--how fun is that?

Keep in mind that Stanton Lanier was a chemist and a financial planner in a prior life. That's a scary thought. An intensely creative, artsy, and talented guy like Lanier must have nearly exploded under the buttoned-down veneer of financial planning. Well, he has certainly found his calling now--what an excellent pianist!

The familiar Christmas numbers serve as artful foundations from which Lanier launches into exquisite freeform expression. He employs a tender, but dynamic, touch, and the results almost had me in tears, in a very good way. Lovely! Of the original pieces, I particularly embraced Lanier's radiant Thanksgiving; perhaps that's because Thanksgiving Day is later this week. The English horn (Jill Haley) is the piano's amazing partner on the piece. And if you need the right ambiance for quiet reflection, you cannot do better than Lanier's original Silence. As for well-loved holiday fare, I adored the melancholy and somewhat exotic Coventry Carol, and O Come, O Come Emmanuel spoke to me in sternly serious, yet irresistibly inviting, tones (with three Hopi drum beats at the close).

I give Stanton Lanier's December Peace my highest recommendation. If you enjoy the artistry of George Winston, this album definitely belongs in your holiday collection. What are you waiting for?

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2009)

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From the liner notes:

Traditional and original piano melodies offering peace and rest for your holiday season. This distinctive collection also features English horn, cello, flugel horn, and vocals.

Produced by William Ackerman

All piano compositions and arrangements by Stanton Lanier.
English Horn by Jill Haley.
Cello by Eugene Friesen.
Vocals by Noah Wilding.
Flugel Horn by Jeff Oster.
Hopi Drum by Will Ackerman.


From the artist's Website:

...Stanton's stated mission, to offer "peace and rest in a hurried world," is accomplished through storytelling, but not in words. His stories are told through instrumental melodies on the piano, transporting a global listening audience to that unique interior place that brings peace to each person's life and circumstances. Many of his live performances are coupled with exquisite pictures of nature that create a powerful sensory experience.

Stanton's unlikely beginnings as a chemist and then a financial planner beg for a fuller understanding of how he came to create six albums as of November 2009. Stanton began piano lessons when he was six years old growing up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He wanted to quit the piano in middle school because of basketball and baseball, but his parents wouldn't let him. Stanton wrote his first song at age fourteen in Milton, Florida and continued to play and write songs while completing a chemistry degree at Georgia Tech and an MBA at the University of Georgia. Five years into seemingly successful consulting and sales jobs, "career surrender" is the self-described state that found the thirty-year old artist in 1994 struggling to find his purpose. This led to a sense of calling to work as a financial planner, while also intensifying his longing to hear God's voice.

This desire ultimately became Stanton's inspiration for his music, which is based on his artistic interpretation of ancient scriptures. The melodies are evidence of the human ability to communicate without words and transport without physical energy. Stanton wrote thirty songs while employed full-time as a financial planner. It is a testament to the essence of his music. We live ordinary lives yet each moment holds extraordinary potential to touch the lives of others. It is this expression that Stanton believes brings the most joy and inspires us to live our lives with passion.

Stanton Lanier

Christmas Peace

Artist link

Track List