Take Five with Landry

About Landry:
Success is singlehandedly the greatest form of service ever invented by humankind. It is in our wellbeing that we can best serve others. It is in our abundance that we can best serve others. It is in our joy that we can best serve others. Ultimately, it is in our thriving that the world around us thrives. As such, our first duty to our family and friends is to be successful. It is the paradigm from which we give the world permission to be all that it desires to be. It is that very freedom that will evolve us from a manipulation/enslavement paradigm to a co-creation/empowerment paradigm. The co-creation of my latest project, SUCCEED, was born out of that very desire. My intention for this project was to offer a permission slip for the very one thing we all crave to be: OURSELVES.

Instrument(s):
Voice.

Teachers and/or influences?
Whitney Houston and Michael Bolton.

I knew I wanted to be a musician when...
I couldn't help it anymore.

Your sound and approach to music:
As international and eclectic as my life experience.

Your teaching approach:
It's not so much about what you get, but much more about who you become, and how in the process, you transform everyone else around you for the better.

Your dream band:
Landry, Dan Feiszli, Matt Heulitt, Eric Levy and Alan Hall.

Road story: Your best or worst experience:
Often when I work with other musicians, I found out that we give our best to each other once we cross the vulnerability break point with each other. Anything prior to that is just a façade. Real/Moving/Gut-wrenching music is born after we're fully naked with each other.

Favorite venue:
Madison Square Garden

Your favorite recording in your discography and why?
My latest record, SUCCEED, is my favorite. It's the first album I ever wrote to address a need in society.

The first Jazz album I bought was:
Johnny Hartman

What do you think is the most important thing you are contributing musically?
Lyrically, I write songs that can help us manifest a future that we all feel in our heart but that we have yet to experience physically.

Did you know...
I write all songs in my head. Imagination is the birthplace of my music.

CDs you are listening to now:
CeeLo Green: CeeLo's Magic Moment

How would you describe the state of jazz today?
Better than ever... It's filled with all kind of innovative and breakthrough musicians. The power to create is ever so powerful and the time is right for those who welcome the journey.

What are some of the essential requirements to keep jazz alive and growing?
Only one requirement: those who are called to be musicians must answer the call.

What is in the near future?
A French album

What's your greatest fear when you perform?
That the audience is bored.

What song would you like played at your funeral?
My interpretation of the classic "Can't Help Falling In Love."

What is your favorite song to whistle or sing in the shower?
Whatever song I'm jamming to at the moment. Lately, it's been CeeLo's "What Christmas Means To Me."

By Day:
Solar Field Engineer.

If I weren't a jazz musician, I would be a:
corpse.

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