From the gentile melody of “Lullaby” to the howling guitar tones on “Cry”, both tracks on Landis Dell's 
debut recording, Reflections in a Forgotten Language, 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. 

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 his 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 its 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 under his own name, with the 
Prime Time Big Band, as a sideman with various groups, and with the new rock group: The Knowledge of Us.