From the gentile melody of “Lullaby†to the howling guitar tones on “Cryâ€, both tracks on Landis Dell's debut recording, Reflections in a Forgotten Language (slated for release in January 2010), a listener can immediately tell that Landis Dell is not what we’ve all come to expect in a jazz guitarist. With melodies and harmonies that are informed by the styles of Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus, and rhythmic structures influenced by Dave Brubeck, Steve Coleman, and Vijay Iyer, Landis’ compositions cover a wide range of emotional, and stylistic territory.
Landis Dell graduated from the Bachelor of Music (Jazz Studies) program at St. Francis Xavier University with distinction in 2004. There he learned the traditions of jazz, and was also exposed to some of the cutting-edge jazz styles that continue to evolve in New York, Boston, and other centres, but his influences extend beyond jazz. In 2001 his short piece Homecoming was performed by the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra. Landis has performed in a variety of mainstream groups ranging in style from hard rock to country, punk, top 40, alternative, and funk. He performed at the East Coast Music Awards with Andrea Curry (a singer-songwriter from Nova Scotia) in 2005. All of these influences show up, sometimes unexpectedly, in his compositions and in his playing.
The biggest lesson that Landis learned from his study of jazz music is that jazz, at it’s core, is an exciting, unpredictable, spontaneous, and immensely expressive art form. This is always at the forefront of his mind whenever he performs. In the last year, Landis has performed with Eric Friedenberg, the Prime Time Big Band, Andrea Curry, and under his own name. He is currently booking gigs in preparation for the release of his debut recording, Reflections in a Forgotten Language.
