White pianist Art Lande (born in New York in 1947), who moved to San Francisco in 1969 and ran a pioneering jazz school in Berkeley, specialized in calm, bucolic atmospheres both in the duets with saxophonist Jan Garbarek of Red Lanta (november 1973) and on his solo piano album The Eccentricities Of Earl Dant (february 1977), recorded in Berkeley, mostly of covers. He also formed a quartet with Mark Isham on trumpet that recorded Rubisa Patrol (may 1976) in Norway (because Manfred Eicher of ECM had fallen in love with Norway), with Corinthian Melodies, and Desert Marauders (june 1977), recorded in Germany, with the 16-minute Desert Marauders, both dominated by languid tones.

Quasi-classical ambitions surfaced in the 23-minute solo-piano sonata The Story Of Ned Tra-La (august 1977), off The Story Of Ba-Ku and the 19-minute The Story Of Ba-Ku (august 1978) for piano, three reed players, bass and drums off The Story Of Ba-Ku.

In the early 1980s Lande moved to Seattle to teach at Cornish College. Lande lived in Europe between 1983 and 1987, where he composed Times and Places (1986) for symphony orchestra.

We Begin (ECM, 1987), another collaboration with Isham, was recorded again in Norway.

Lande relocated to Colorado in 1987, where he recorded Hardball (1987) and Melissa Spins Away (1988).