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By david burger The Salt Lake Tribune First published Apr 27 2011 06:35PM Updated May 11, 2011 12:01AM Yanni is back. The Greek composer and musician is performing a live show to promote "Truth of Touch," his first album of original studio music in nearly a decade. Yanni is the best-selling New Age artist in the history of the genre, and on "Truth" he returns to his musical roots. In a media conference call, Yanni said his tour will give fans what they've been waiting for: to hear the instrumental hits he has played at concerts around the world, including The Acropolis in Greece, the Taj Mahal in India, The Forbidden City in China and The Royal Albert Hall in England. Yanni, 56, talked about the impression Americans have of him, what he aspires do to do live, and why a letter from a six-year-old moved him to tears. His new album, released earlier this year » Actually, with "Truth of Touch" I wasn't even intending on making an album. It's one of my favorite albums I've ever done. First of all, I feel you've got to understand where I'm coming from in my life. I think I'm going through the best time in my life right now. And going into my studio at night, when everybody's asleep, is just a total pleasure for me. The creative process and writing and making something that wasn't there until you came along, it's a very exciting time for me. When I go in the studio I stay for 10, 12 hours, sometimes 16 hours, I don't think about eating or whatever. The physical aspect of it goes away ... This time in particular I just went for a more defined, more Westernized, edgier sound on purpose because I liked it. I was in the mood for it. And when I was younger many of you may know I used to play in rock 'n' roll bands so I let a little bit of the rock player out in a couple of songs. On the "Truth of Touch" tour »I call it a pocket Hercules. It's very mighty because everyone on that stage. I think we're 17 people but everyone on that stage is a virtuoso. Every one of them pretty much will be able to solo, stand up, do something and entertain the audience by themselves. I know this is the best band I've ever had. What he wants audiences to get out of his shows » Besides being entertained, I'd like to move them emotionally. It's like you look down at the audience and see people smiling, crying, hugging each other. I want them on their way home to feel empowered like they can do anything. It's a tall order but I try to uplift the audience. The concert is positive but not Pollyannaish. It's not naïve. It is straightforward and I know from the letters I'm getting and from the reaction that I've been getting that it's doing that. Recently we toured Mexico. In Mexico, I have a lot of friends there and I love the country very much and we all know they are going through a very difficult time right now. And, I've read things in the newspaper where a little girl wrote — I get goose bumps even saying this story right now. It moved me to tears. It's a 6-year-old girl saying that she goes to sleep with my music because she thinks if my music is playing the bad guys can't hurt her. On the negative opinions some Americans have about Yanni » It's like a lot of people have, especially in America, not so much in other countries, but in America a lot of people have heard of me. They know my name but they really don't know the music. Obviously, if you're an artist, you will be criticized by definition, that goes with the territory. It doesn't matter if you do rap or you do classical music or you do rock 'n' roll, whatever, you get that people are going to like you, hate you, whatever. It's part of the deal. But I think touring like I do right now is a good way to turn people's minds. Because I know there are people in the audience that don't want to be there. Somebody brought them there, you know. But I know that they're going to walk away satisfied. I know they're going to at least look at this orchestra and listen to this sound and I know they've never heard better sound in a concert and I know they have to be impressed with the virtuosity of the musicianship. Even my harshest critic could be satisfied, I think, from a concert like we're doing right now. dburger@sltrib.com Twitter: @davidburger