Power of Love, Vol. 1

Recorded at Martinsound Studios, Alhambra, California.
THE POWER OF LOVE was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
Audio Mixer: Ross Pallone.
Recording information: Martinsound Studios, Alhambra, CA.
Photographer: Charles Bush.
Arrangers: J. Eric Schmidt; John Tesh; Tim Heintz.
This two-CD set of easy-listening love songs features Tesh on piano, backed by a 60-piece orchestra. The romantic ballads come from both the New Age realm (Enya's "Watermark," Yanni's "After the Sunrise") and the pop music world (Richard Marx's "This I Promise You", Shania Twain's "From This Moment On"), with two tuneful originals thrown in for variety. The approach works best when the arrangement transmutes the original; it's fun to hear George Winston's sparse piano ballad "Longing/Love" get the full orchestral treatment, or to hear a Kitaro song, composed for synthesizer, rendered with real violins, cellos, and dramatic symphonic percussion. Tesh has built a career on fusing old-fashioned pop sensibilities with the New Age sound. This collection will please fans of both camps.