It isn't the most important question John Tesh hears. It's not even the most interesting. But it's a question everyone has to ask.
How do you feel about Jay Leno abusing you night after night in his "Tonight Show" monologue?Tesh's answer is automatic.
"I love it," he says. "Every time Jay goes after me I sell out another venue. I hope he never stops."
Whether or not that's true, Tesh's television exposure has indeed lifted him into the ranks of the elite of "new age" composers. He bankrolled his first PBS fund-raiser, "John Tesh: Live at Red Rocks." His second special, "John Tesh: The Avalon Concert," is now beginning to pay handsomely with
CD sales and concert crowds.And at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 3, in Kingsbury Hall, Tesh will offer songs from the "Avalon" CD, as well as some of his popular past successes.
Tickets are $25 and $30. Call 581-7100.
"We've played Wolf Mountain. And we've played Abravanel Hall three times," says Tesh. "We sell more records in Salt Lake City than we do in Los Angeles."
And why is that?
"I don't know," he says. "I guess Salt Lakers just have good taste."
For the Avalon venture, Tesh and his troupe traveled to the village of Avalon on Santa Catalina Island - the famous "isle of sweet romance" just 26 miles across the sea from L.A. The floaty, otherworldly quality of the town combines in Tesh's concert with classic poetry about the original, mystical island of Avalon to produce a sense of both fantasy and legend.
"The performances on `Avalon' are better than `Red Rocks,' " says Tesh. "I have some incredible musicians working with me now. I'd say we are only three weeks away from going gold with this one."
The new CD also has that feel-good, peaceful quality that characterizes most new age music - music that some call the "hymns of the '90s."
Tesh likes that notion.
"We talk about spirituality in the concert," he says. "I'm not a secular person. I believe in God and I go to Christian fellowship. The New Age thing with crystals and worshiping icons doesn't appeal to me, however.
"Sometimes it's a temptation to do things just for effect, but people are too smart for that. They'd figure it out right away. If you don't do it honestly, then it seeps into your personality; it becomes a part of you, and I don't want that."
Tesh was trained at New York's Julliard School of Music. He played rock organ in his home town on Long Island and eventually got a music degree from North Carolina State University. He did sports commentary for CBS in the early '80s. He's best known, of course, as a co-host on "Entertainment Tonight," but he's most proud of his music. He's written "Teshmusic" - as the networks label it - for the Pan American Games, bicycle races, basketball games and the Olympics. But his favorite stories aren't about the big events; they come from the people who tell him how his music has touched their lives. Most often, he hears about his compositions being piped into birthing rooms, thoughweddings, funerals and even ice-skating outings crop up in conversations.
"I know I have something when a member of my family stops me and says, `What's that?' " he says.
They've been saying that a lot lately. And getting ribbed by Jay Leno doesn't seem to affect his composing, his self-esteem or the curve of his career.
For John Tesh, what doesn't kill him makes him softer.