The Piano Guys - The Piano Guys 2 (2013) [Hi-Res]

As with their enormously popular eponymous debut album from late 2012, The Piano Guys continue to enjoy Classical Crossover success with The Piano Guys 2. The atypical quartet features not four instrumentalists but rather songwriters who play cello (Steven Sharp Nelson), play piano (Jon Schmidt), shoot and produce video (Paul Anderson), and engineer and record music (Al Van der Beek). Sharp Nelson’s percussive, partially pizzicato arrangement of Pachabel’s “Canon,” rebranded “Rockelbel’s Canon,” makes the classic sound modern. The “Charlie Brown Medley” incorporates some of late pianist/composer Vince Guaraldi’s music for animated Peanuts specials; “Linus and Lucy” and “Christmas Is Coming” have been gateways to many a jazz fan, and The Piano Guys further that effort. Fellow crossover sensation Lindsey Stirling contributes violin to a dense, dazzling take on Lalo Schifrin’s “Mission Impossible” theme, while Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are” is taken at a slower, tenderhearted tempo.

Technically, the Piano Guys are the duo of pianist Jon Schmidt and cellist Steven Sharp Nelson, but they're also a 21st century multimedia collective that includes Paul Anderson and studio engineer and writer Al van der Beek. Together they produce musical and video gems that mash up classical themes with pop songs that have made the group's YouTube channel one of the most visited on the planet. The group had its beginnings in St. George, Utah, where Anderson owned a piano shop. Schmidt walked in one day and asked if he could practice on one of the pianos for an upcoming concert. Soon Anderson and Schmidt were recording and making videos together, and with the addition of Nelson, posting them to YouTube. Things continued to grow and expand creatively with van der Beek aboard, and the collective's productions became joyous, thoughtful, and beautiful interactive musical videos that received millions of YouTube hits and brought the Piano Guys worldwide attention. After a self-released debut in 2011 called Hits, Vol. 1, an eponymous album appeared in 2012 via Sony Masterworks. It was followed by Piano Guys 2 in 2013 and a holiday album, Family Christmas, in 2014. Released that same year, Wonders proved to be the duo's highest-charting album to date, peaking at the number 12 spot on the Billboard 200. Two years later, the quartet returned with their sixth studio album, Uncharted. Coinciding with a sold-out show at London's Royal Albert Hall, the group issued their first best-of compilation, So Far So Good, in mid-2017. The album included a re-recording of the track "(It's Gonna Be) Okay," which featured guest vocals from Sir Cliff Richard.