Michel Delville

Michel Delville was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1969. He has been performing and composing alternative music since the mid-1980s. His most recent projects include the internationally acclaimed Nu-Rock-Jazz quintet The Wrong Object ( wrongobject.com) , Belgian-Swiss punk-jazz quartet Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese? ( Myspace profile) , Alex Maguire's Electric 6tet, The New Texture Pan Tonal Fellowship (under the direction of Stanley Jason Zappa), The Ed Mann Project, and the new Belgo-Dutch combo The Moving Tones. He has played and recorded with Elton Dean, Annie Whitehead, Harry Beckett, Ed Mann, Alex Maguire, Markus Stauss, Robin Verheyen, Stanley Jason Zappa, Bart Maris, Guy Segers, Fred Delplancq, Jean-Paul Estiévenart, Laurent Delchambre, Damien Campion, Damien Polard, Frank van der Kooij, Etienne Plumer, Marco Maurizi, Jaap Blonk, Andrew Norris, Chris Stassinopoulos, Ivo Sans, Marc Mangen, Domenico Solazzo's PaNoPTiCon, Steven Delannoy, Sam Gertsmans, Antoine Guenet, Biagio Francia, Domgué and many other jazz and prog-rock musicians. Persistent rumors are circulating that his next official album for Moonjune Records will be almost entirely guitar-based, electronically inclined, and released under the name of BLAST 3. In the meantime, a hitherto unnamed power trio featuring Alex Maguire are hatching up plans to rehearse, perform and record in late 2008 and early 2009 ...
Barry Cleveland/GUITAR PLAYER: "The Wrong Object's "Stories from the Shed" is brimming with artful compositions and Michel Delville’s quirky guitar work … The super-flanged atmospherics on “Acquiring the Taste,” the anarchic wah work on “Malign Siesta,” the choppy rhythm madness on “Strangler Fig,” and the manic soloing on the album closer are just a few of the many guitar highlights scattered throughout the disc."
Duncan Heining/JAZZWISE: "Guitarist Delville is quite stunning whether soloing or filling out the spaces between ... Suppose you’ve a friend, who thinks jazz-rock an aberration and fusion noodling its inevitable nadir. Here’s what you do. Strap them to a chair, put this on at full volume and leave them a few hours. If by then they still don’t get it, find another friend."
Nathan Turk /SIGNAL TO NOISE: "Technical chops abound in Stories from the Shed - some of Michel Delville's guitar parts evoke Frank Zappa's on Waka/Jawaka - but technique is never the focus ... Burners like "Saturn" and "Lifting Belly" are pure rock'n'roll in the 1950s Sun Records sense, Delville's reverb-flanged licks bumping up against the brass section's sweaty squawks in a juxtaposition of the urban and the rural, the highbrow and the blue collar."
Dave Lynch /ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "'Jazz fascists clear the room!' Wrong Object guitarist Michel Delville would seem to announce with the first burst of a metallic power chord at the outset of "Sonic Riot at the Holy Palate," the leadoff track of the Belgian quintet's Stories from the Shed … The two-part "Unbelievable Truth," concluding the disc, is a truly warped hybrid, with more tinges of the Middle East, a off-kilter nearly avant-prog bridge, and a lengthy rollicking tenor showcase that permutes into a tight Euro-jazz-rock vamp before dissipating into free dialogues soon dominated by Delville's scorching lead guitar. Delville burns it up in the spotlight as the band coalesces around him with a spectacular ascending ensemble arrangement leading directly into a slam-bang unison thematic finish."
Alain Quaniers /PROG-RESISTE: "'Stories from the Shed' se termine sur le diptyque 'The Unbelievable Truth, Part 1 & 2', dix minutes de haut vol qui résument à la perfection tous les styles abordés au cours de cet opus. La deuxième partie voit aussi Michel Delville lâcher un solo de guitare incroyable que n'aurait pas renié le grand Frank Zappa lui-même!"
Ben Watson /HIFINEWS: "Michel Delville, leader and guitarist of The Wrong Object from Liège, Belgium, is writing tunes which emulate Zappa’s taste for succinct idiosyncrasy and melodic lilt.... in a modern music scene that regularly trundles out all the paraphernalia of intelligence (laptops, bald heads, performers; desk-tops like mad electronic laboratories), this is the real thing."
Jacques Prouvost /CITIZEN JAZZ: "Toujours soutenu par une rythmique qui maintient la pression à un niveau élevé, Delville fait preuve d’une grande habileté à la guitare. Ses riffs sont mordants, et ses développements, clairvoyants, visent à rejoindre la trompette ondulante d’Estiévenart ou le sax rageur de Delplancq."
ZNR: "Michel Delville’s guitar playing seems influenced more by the atmospheric explorations of players like Bill Frisell, David Torn and, certainly, Robert Fripp but his technical ability is never in question. There are hints of Zappa & Holdsworth in his sound, too. However the approach is all his own and never seems derivative. Like Frisell & Torn, Delville can play all around an idea and look at it from many different angles."
SONIC CURIOSITY: "Michel Delville’s guitar sears and growls and wails, imbuing each song with astounding pyrotechnics of the audible variety. The instrument blazes with fervent power, filling the air with vibrant riffs that threaten to scald the ears. The notes establish a shrill cadence that exudes a bewitching and infectious charm. Crashing outbursts slide into nimble-fingered chords of glistening disposition."
Matt Cibulla /CAVE 17: "Delville is pretty great both as a soloist, where he often seems to fly completely off the handle in angry-lovely ways — his temper-tantrum stuff during “Strangler Fig” compares/contrasts nicely to Jean-Paul Estièvenart’s swingin’-trumpet style — and as an ambient sound-layerer, like his atmospherics on “Rippling Stones”. If you’re making a list of great guitar players, please include his name. Remember doing lists like that? Ah, the old days."
Vincenzo Giorgio /WONDEROUS STORIES: “L’impressionante maturazione dei The Wrong Object è immediatamente testimoniata da “Sonic Riot At The Holy Palate” con quel suo incipit scavato nelle asperità di timbriche elettroniche post-crimsoniane e un ipnotico riff arabeggiante sostenuto dall’ottima sezione fiati, coltivata dalla fosforescente “15/05”, una sorta attualizzazione del suono Nucleus reso più “maleducato” dall’abile regia armonica di Delville (chitarrista sopraffino, dedito al culto dell’arredo sonoro e non del solipsismo autoreferenziale).”
BAD ALCHEMY: "Eine Begegnung mit Michel Delville ist eine Kette von Bingo!s, schließlich ist der belgische Gitarrist (zusammen mit Andrew Norris) Autor von Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and the Secret History of Maximalism (2005), Mitspieler in Markus Staussens Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese?, mit Guy Segers einer von The Moving Tones und neben Pierre Vervloesem Belgiens anderer Anwärter für die Guitar-Hall-of-Fame … Delville ist Jahrgang 1969 und der Geist von Bitches Brew, Hot Rats, Emergency und In The Court Of The Crimson King inspiriert, neben Klassikern der ’anderen‘ Fraktion wie Strawinski und Bartok, tatsächlich und explizit (im Interview mit www.powermetal.de)."
Roberto PAVIGLIANITI /ROCKAKTION: "The Wrong Object è trascinato dalla chitarra elettrica/synth di Michel Delville, leader e autore della maggior parte dei brani. Le sue derivazioni (Gong, Fripp, Zappa) sono il fulcro sul quale far leva per creare una musica personalissima, di carattere e votata a una sperimentazione coerente e affiatata."
Pete Pardo /SEA OF TRANQUILITY: "You can hear the influence of Zappa, Robert Fripp, and Terje Rypdal in the playing of guitarist Michel Delville, his solos at the end of this piece literally exploding through the mix with plenty of fire and passion. More of his distorted rumblings can also be heard on the energetic "15/05", a real jazz burner that features plenty of tight playing from the whole group. You might detect a slight hint of Waka Jawaka era Zappa by way of Weather Report’s Heavy Weather on the intense "Strangler Fig", while the near 7-minute "Saturn" is an exploratory journey into melodic free-jazz (if that is possible!) with Delville doing his most convincing Zappa guitar solo on the album, sounding impossibly close to Frank’s tone & phrasing on the Joe’s Garage album."
Ross Boissoneau /PROGRESSION: THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF PROGRESSIVE MUSIC: "Most of the music of The Wrong Object's "Stories from the Shed" is by Michel Delville, who also plays a mean synthesizer. Combining tightness and whimsy, avant-garde electronics with sophisticated acoustic playing."
Gert Schmidt /IG JAZZ: "Mit ihrer Musik waren sie DIE Stars der Zappanale 2004. Michel Delville, Gitarrist und Bandleader, kann mit dem grossen Vorbild durchaus mithalten. Mit Zappa teilt er einen feinen Sinn für den musikalischen Surrealismus. Davon zeugen Titel wie "Cunnimingus" oder "King Kong: The George W. Bush Version".
Vincenzo Giorgo /MUSICA JAZZ: "Escono quasi in contemporanea due registrazioni dal vivo della band di Michel Delville, vulcanico chitarrista belga fortemente attrato da Allan Holdsworth, Terje Rypdal, Robert Fripp e Frank Zappa oltre che – come evidenziano qui gli ospiti – dal jazz britannico."
René Yedema /iO PAGES: "Kenmerkend hiervoor zijn Delville’s Mellotronstrings-achtige guitarsynthesizereffect dat de korte trompetuitbarsting in “Sonic Riot at the Holy Palate” begeleidt en de psychedelische, naar Jimi hendrix neigende gitaarclimax in “The Unbelievable Truth – Part II”. Een zowel intense als confronterende en intrigerende luistervaring."
Matthias Zwarg /FREIE PRESSE: "Delville beherrscht Zappas röhrendes Gitarrenspiel ausgezeichnet, organisiert den Sound aber auf freundlich-zurückhaltende Art so, dass jeder Mitspieler seine solistischen Ausflüge machen kann, die weidlich genutzt werden. — Matthias Zwarg,"
MUSIC EMISSIONS: "Guitarist Michel Delville is the engine driving this Belgian sestet. His solos send "15/05" the mini-epic "The Unbelievable Truth" close to the edge of chaos. Improv meets tasty pysch-jazz grooves all over this set."
GAPPLEGATE MUSIC: "Guitar and electronics man Michel Delville plays an idiomatic axe that can groove as well as wail and writes much of the band’s material. Like the Later Soft Machine and Zappa, it is certainly the music itself that sets them apart. There is much of musical merit to digest on this disk and I recommend it highly."
BABYBLAUE SEITEN: "Delville ist der Rocker, der zappabeeinflusste Avantgardist ... Seine Gitarrensolos klingen für mich als würden da ca. drei Gitarristen mitspielen: einer auf dem Gitarrensynthesizer, der zweite beeinflusst von F.Zappa, der dritte eher von Fred Frith."
Alfonso Tregua/JAZZITALIA:“Disco dall’impatto notevolissimo, questo “Stories From The Shed” è un compendio della ricca inventiva del chitarrista belga Michel Delville, autore della maggior parte dei brani ... Pur ricordando a sprazzi, nei momenti ad elevata energia, il Terye Rypdal più duro, Delville rivela anche una personale e feconda voce strumentale, parca nell’uso degli effetti; scevro dal narcisismo per gran parte del disco, si concede con parsimonia l’occhio di bue, come nel conclusivo The Unbelievable Truth – Part II.”
Maurizio Comandini /ALL ABOUT JAZZ ITALY: "La scrittura di Michel Delville, vero leader del gruppo, è assolutamente in grado di fornire elementi di contiguità molto evidenti con quella di Zappa e quindi il progetto assume una unitarietà molto evidente, ben messa in luce dalla coesione che il palco sa fornire. L’album è stato infatti registrato dal vivo e il concerto è davvero godibile e riuscito, con ampio spazio riservato ai solisti, ma senza mai abbandonare il compito auto-assegnato di costruire un coerente tessuto dalle trame zappiane che non si vergogna di abbracciare anche influssi provenienti dal rock progressivo inglese e dal jazz-rock meticcio che ha preso piede a partire da Canterbury, da Robert Wyatt e Ian Carr e da altri spiriti liberi europei."
PANPROGTIKUM: "Michel Delville, der in der Tradition von Fripp, Rypdal und Holdsworth steht, garantiert für virtuose Gitarrenarbeit.Das lässt auf ein hervorragendes Album im Bereich zwischen JazzRock, progressivem Rock, Avant-Garde und Zappaeskem hoffen."
Riccardo Storti/MENTELOCALE (Magazine di cultura e tempo libero a Genova e in Liguria): "Provate ad immaginare Goran Bregovic che ingaggia nella sua band il Fripp di Lark’s Tongue In Aspic con il sax di John Zorn, la tromba di Mark Isham, magari rubando qualche loop dall’archivio dell’ultimo Wyatt … con un divino solo del chitarrista Michel Delville tra Frank Zappa e Mike Stern."
Volkmar Mantei /RAGAZZI: "Michel Delville nimmt sich nicht zurück und spielt, mal im Zappa-Geist, mal in eigener Intention, exklusive Soli. Erstaunlich die personelle Parallele zu The Wrong Object, die wie In Cahoots erst mit Elton Dean, schließlich mit Annie Whitehead aufgenommen hatten. In Cahoots zeigen eine stärkere Rockpräsenz, The Wrong Object rocken jedoch partiell wesentlich härter. The Wrong Object klingen europäischer, In Cahoots britischer. Der größte Unterschied ist wohl der Einsatz der elektrischen Gitarre. Beide Ensembles werden von Gitarristen geleitet, Phil Miller ist der ältere, abgeklärte, Michel Delville der "rockigere", härtere."
Peter Pardo /SEA OF TRANQUILITY: "TZGIV's "More Light" features plenty of white hot soloing, especially from Delville and Stauss, whose scorching guitar leads and hazy sax explorations really light up these tracks in a big way. The band mixes avant-garde with jazz on "Surinam", and lace up their funk and fusion chops on the upbeat "For Jean". They channel the magic of Zappa on the rocking "Kater Carlo", complete with Delchambre's tricky stick work and some incredible guitar soloing from Delville, who really is a monster player."
Vincenzo Giorgio /MUSICA JAZZ: "I Wrong Object dimostrano di aver acquisito ulteriore personalità unita a un interessante spessore ceativo, grazie sopratutto all’impronta del leader Delville, capace di una scrittura fresca e argutamente aperta, abbinata a un chitarrismo molto timbrico."
Domenico Solazzo /RIF-RAF: "Avec à sa tête Michel Delville, guitariste émérite qui a dernièrement intégré un nouveau projet aux côtés de Frank van der Kooij, Guy Segers (Univers Zero) et Ivo Sans (Animus Anima), The Wrong Object propose en réalité un jazz fusion exigeant qui devrait convaincre sans trop de peine les amateurs de In Cahoots, Curlew, et dans une certaine mesure aussi Aka Moon"
WONDEROUS STORIES: "I belgi The Wrong Object, guidati dallo straordinario chitarrista/compositore/arrangiatore italo-belga Michel Delville propongono un jazz-rock di avanguardia di stampo RIO-zappesco/milesmagmaburiano."
"Giuseppe di Spirito, ROTTERS CLUB: La chitarra elettrica nervosa di Delville, pronto ad avventurarsi in sequenze tortuose di note e ad offrire una notevole varietà timbrica, sfruttando al meglio la tecnologia, si fonde alla perfezione con il sax irrequieto di Fred Delplancq e con la tromba di matrice jazz di Jean-Paul Estiévenart. "
Alessandro Pizzin /DEBRA KADABRA: "Michel Delville è decisamente molto interessante con il suo stile chitarristico, a metà strada tra lo Zappa più astratto e l’apparente geniale contorta inconcludenza di un Phil Miller prima-maniera."
Enzo Boddi / JAZZCOLO(U)RS: "Prendendo le mosse da sonorità rock, Delville arriva anche a produrre un approcio corrosivo, sulle coordinate di un Marc Ducret."
Thanks to: Elton Dean, Harry Beckett, Annie Whitehead, Alex Maguire, Frank Zappa, Francis Hérard, Gilbert Delville, Elisabeth Waltregny, Romain et Louise Delville. Background photo: ©Marc Atkins. Design: StudioH.