Yanni Be Good

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 | 4:30 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: Feb. 23, 2003

For Yanni, there is no halfway. People either love his music, or they love poking fun at him.

If you're a true fan of the Greek-born songwriter and keyboardist, however, you've probably noticed that for the past five years, Yanni has been conspicuously absent from the road.

In 1998 following his last world tour, Yanni went on the first major touring hiatus of his career. Saddled with a deep depression -- the result of his breakup with actress Linda Evans combined with burnout from years of steady live performances -- he went more than a year without even touching a piano.

Saturday night at 8 at Mandalay Bay Events Center, the 48-year-old Yanni returns to the stage for the first time in five years, kicking off a three-month, 57-city U.S. tour celebrating the release of his latest album, "Ethnicity."

During a recent visit to Washington, D.C. to promote his new autobiography, "Yanni in Words," Yanni checked in from his tour bus for a phone interview.

Las Vegas Sun: How did you realize you needed to stop touring for a while?

Yanni: I didn't know where my limit was, and I found it by exceeding it. Life has a great way of coming in and really hitting you hard in the face. So I just walked away from my career, went home to Greece to hang out with my mom and dad and tried to heal.

Sun: How did you know you were ready to return to the road?

Yanni: When you're depressed, you wake up in the morning and you're in pain for no apparent reason. Eventually, you start waking up in the morning and you're happy for no apparent reason. And then the music just came back on its own.

Sun: So looking back, you're pleased with your decision to take the time off?

Yanni: It was the right thing to have done. I've been overworked. I've been doing an album and a tour almost every other year for 20 years. So it completely healed me. And now I'm ready to come back. I'm excited again. Everything is fresh and new.

Sun: What will you do differently on this tour, to make sure you don't overdo it again?

Yanni: As I try to find balance in my life, I am realizing that when it comes down to music, I'm a very unbalanced human being. It's all or nothing. So now I have built-in, mandatory days off. Every seven or 10 days, I just go away for two or three days. It's part of the deal I made with myself."

Sun: What do you think it will be like when you get back onstage?

Yanni: I think the opening night at the Mandalay Bay I'm going to be very nervous. Five years is a long time.

Sun: Your book provides a very personal look at your life. Why were you so willing to reveal intimate details about yourself?

Yanni: A lot of the fans feel they know me through the music, and they do. They can feel the emotions that I deal with in the music, and they connect with it. But I'm sure there are going to be areas of my life in the book that they are going to be surprised about.

I was also hoping to inspire people by telling the stories of my experiences from traveling around the world, and coming in contact with different cultures, the way I was raised and also the battles that I had to fight to get my music heard around the world. And I did it to show that if a little boy from Kalamata, Greece, can do what I've done, then anyone can do it.

Sun: Linda Evans contributed to the book, so I'm guessing the two of you are still close.

Yanni: Oh yes, we are. Linda is helping me put this upcoming tour together. She's still very close with my family, particularly with my sister.

Sun: How tough was the breakup for you?

Yanni: In 1998, I got really lost because I walked away from my career and also lost Linda. It was a double hit. So it was almost like my life began again at that time. I'm not crying about it. It was an experience, part of life. And I'm grateful for it. It made me smarter, stronger and all of that.

Sun: You have a chapter in the book titled, "Not New Age." Explain your distaste for that term.

Yanni: I feel it was a very unfortunate choice of words because it's a loaded term, not a musical term. My objection to the term is that for people who have never heard my music, they assume I burn incense and meditate a lot (laughs).

Sun: Your new album features vocals, a rarity in your catalog. How did that come about?

Yanni: I did something I've been asked in the past to do by some of the fans, as an experiment. I brought Alfreda Gerald into the studio and when she started singing, we all got goosebumps. She does a brilliant job. So I decided to leave it on the album.

Sun: What should fans expect to hear at your show?

Yanni: I will play a lot of the old favorites. I know which songs people like, and they are my favorites too. The concert will last 2 1/2 hours, so I'll have plenty of time to play the new material also.

Sun: You've played concerts in some unusual places over the years, like the Taj Mahal in India and the Forbidden City in China. Do you have any upcoming plans for anything like that?

Yanni: A year and a half ago I was invited by North and South Korea to play in both countries, when things looked good for there. It was a happier time, and I would have loved to do a concert like that. But now it's out of the question. Iraq has also invited me to play. I turned it down immediately because I knew I was going to be used.

We live in very interesting times, to put in mildly. It looks pretty dark right now. People are very angry around the world. And that's why I very respectfully say that if I could become a positive in any small form, if I could use my influence in any way, I would be honored to do that.

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