What you may not know about a member of Pearl Django
David Lange: Musician and Studio Engineer
AUTHOR: By Hilary Field
Originally Posted Mar 2012
Nestled in the woods of Edgewood, Washington, is a haven where music comes alive and is preserved for generations. David Lange Studios, stocked with top quality equipment and impeccably designed to capture true sound, has yet one other resource that keeps its full calendar of clients returning for years. David Lange is more than just a studio engineer. His superb musicianship, spot on sense of pitch and rhythm, meticulous attention to detail, and extraordinary instrumental skills, coupled with his supportive, relaxed, and positive attitude, keep him in high demand as a producer, musician, and engineer. David’s client list runs deep, with hundreds of albums recorded and produced at his studio.
In January 2007, David became a touring member with the group Pearl Django. “Everyone in the group is great,” says David, who especially admires their consistently high level of musicianship and their feel for time. He is having a blast touring with the group. Everyone in the band gets along and has a great time, on and off the stage. Violinist Michael Gray agrees. “David is always willing to engage in incredibly serious and satisfying musical exchanges juxtaposed with supremely goofy moments where we have exactly NO idea of what we are playing together, but somehow it all works out to be easily the most fun I have on stage. And, that seems to get communicated to the audience also. They can see we are having a great time and hopefully that helps them to have a great time. He will probably get on me for relaying this, but he is one of the only guys that truly have perfect pitch, so he can pretty much immediately replicate whatever line someone has been playing. In short, David is just a great player and a joy to play with!” The admiration is mutual from David. “I can’t think of a stronger kindred spirit that I have encountered than Michael. When we do music together I know why it is called ‘playing.’”
David is in high demand as a studio musician, and will basically play anything with keys. As beautiful and lyrical as his piano playing is, his real passion is the accordion. “I love the tone of my accordion. I like the way the music sustains, and the way you can shape the phrases and musical lines with the bellows. It has a very expressive quality.” In David’s return to the accordion, he has learned that the pitch on the instrument is not necessarily static. “I was doing some bellow work that was very uneven (intentionally) and I noticed that the pitch was changing. I figured out that you could control the airflow to the reeds by not depressing the key all the way. It was startling to me that you can bend the pitch.”
For David, all of this incredible music started with Uncle Jimmy and his wonderfully red accordion. When a canvasser came to the door with music lessons for sale, five-year old David decided, “accordion was the instrument for me.” David didn’t know if it was the sound of Uncle Jimmy’s accordion or the cool looking ruby red color with bright shiny silver that piqued his musical imagination as a tot, “but it got me.” Colorful and shiny objects aside, David admits that it would have been difficult twenty years ago to be drawn to the accordion because it had acquired such a stigma. “It hadn’t done that when I was five. It was still a big deal instrument.” Although David, a Tacoma native, did not grow up in a particularly musical family, his parents supported his young musical passion with lessons. David pays respect to his family for their support, as well as all of his accordion teachers, in his liner notes. His mother even sought out the great accordionist Kenny Olendorf to teach her son, who became one of David’s biggest influences in learning jazz. “Prior to working with Kenny, I thought that you could write jazz,” said David, “and he opened up a big vista of how to improvise.” Art Van Damme, a giant in the world of jazz accordion and one of Kenny Olendorf’s colleagues, was another inspiring performer for David. “Art Van Damme is a brilliant player and a big force, with more influence on accordion players in the world than just about anyone.” Another great influence was one of David’s professors when he studied music at UPS, Dr. Leroy Ostransky, author of the book “The Anatomy of Jazz.” “I had all these bits and pieces of knowledge about music growing up,” relates David, “and my first year of theory was a revelation because it joined all those pieces together. Dr. Ostransky’s instruction was clearly organized, and at the end of every class you got an amusing anecdote. He was a great entertainer, as well as a fabulous man.”
