Musician and composer Michael Landau was born and raised in Los Angeles.
He grew up with the music of The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin,
Cream and The Band. His grandfather Ernani Bernardi arranged and
played the alto sax during the swing era with the Dorsey Brothers and
Benny Goodman. Michael began playing the guitar at age 11, as a teenager
he quickly became very interested in jazz and electric jazz music.
Weather Report, Pat Martino and Jaco Pastorius were some of his early obsessions.
In the mid '70s Michael played in the L.A. dance clubs with an R&B band
and toured the west coast with The Robben Ford Band which included
Jimmy Haslip and Russell Ferrante.
At age 19 he joined Boz Scaggs for a world tour and by the age of 20 he
started to do session work with the help of long time friend Steve Lukather,
Jeff Porcaro and Danny Kortchmar. Some session highlights over the
coming years would include Pink Floyd, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, BB King,
James Taylor, Ray Charles and Rod Stewart. There is a complete session
discography at allmusic.com. with over 600 records and soundtracks
listed.
In 1984 Michael toured again and recorded with Joni Mitchell. This
tour was called "The Refuge Of The Roads" with Vinnie Colaiuta,
Larry Klein and Russell Ferrante.
In 1989 he released his first solo album "Tales from the Bulge",
an instrumental record initially released in Japan and on Creatchy
records in the US. Wayne Shorter, Steve Tavaglione, Vinnie Colaiuta,
Carlos Vega, Steve Lukather and Jimmy Johnson were among some of
the players on this release.
In 1990 he formed the band "Burning Water" with brother
Teddy Landau, David Frazee and Carlos Vega. They put out 4 discs of
original material and toured in Japan and the US.
It was also around this time that he started to record and tour with
James Taylor.
In 1993 he won the readers poll for Best Studio Guitarist in Guitar
Player Magazine.
In 1994 Michael formed "The Raging Honkies", a naughty little trio
with Teddy Landau and Abe Laboriel Jr. They released 2 discs and toured
Europe and the US.
In 2001 he released a double live album of original material and a studio
album "The Star Spangled Banner" on his own label Unconscious
Records.
Michael has also produced and or mixed some selected artists and side
projects including: Scott Henderson, The Jazz Ministry, Hazey Jane, Stolen Fish
and Freak Juice.
He currently tours and performs with his own Group, Hazey Jane, Dustin Boyer,
Kirk Fletcher, Robben Ford, The Jazz Ministry, Stolen Fish, The Wreckers and James Taylor.
His most recent project, "The Michael Landau Group Live" was released in October '06
on Tone Center records in the US, Mascot Records in Europe, and
Vega Music in Japan.
His current heroes and influences are Kirk Fletcher, Dustin Boyer and Derek Trucks. He likes sandwiches, old things, the earth, playing music and spanning time with his
beautiful wife Karen.
