Wendy Lands
Toronto, Ontario, Canada | INDIE
Music
Press
“ Hers is a style that smoothly insinuates itself and before you know it, you’ve bought a ticket on an emotional trip, destination known only to Lands.”
- The Toronto Star
“Amazingly cool…the way she sank her harmonic teeth into the resilient materiel she was rendering to a packed house”.
- The Hollywood Reporter
“Lands saddles up with two Joneses, Norah and Rickie Lee”.
- Variety
Montreal native, singer Wendy Lands, has enjoyed great success. Nominated for a Juno, she affirms her style with a third CD, which ranges from well done pop to jazz, of course. With a little voice that tells of the songs very much in tune with the times: Party Girl, Paris, Juliet, Slow Dance Hotel, it is quite in line with Stacey Kent or Sophie Milman. Naughty jazz goes down like a martini.
- Le Journal De Montreal
- Critic's pick
- Wendy Lands's new disc, Mumble, will appeal to fans of Norah Jones, Emilie-Claire Barlow and other varieties of smart, sophisticated, slightly jazzy urban pop. On the album, Lands sings her original material in a refreshingly flesh-and blood, intimate voice, with understated and empathetic backing. Sounds just about perfect for a live setting. (Bernard Perusse)
- The Montreal Gazette
*** (out of 4)
“Expressive vocals and clear-headed songcraft… This slickly produced set of 11 new creations sounds tailor-made for an intimate venue. My favorite track is Slow Dance Hotel, sparkling with fun echoes of early '70s Burt Bacharach-type pop and nicely realized textures and colours from the boys in the band…she wins with her earnest voice and the skill of her musical storytelling. Dim the lights and enjoy.”
John Terauds - The Toronto Star
- The Toronto Star
This Montreal native, currently based in Toronto, is a singer and songwriter we simply don’t hear from often enough.
MUMBLE is a collection of jazz/pop tunes co-written by Lands and various partners…everything here is 100% perfect… especially (in order) the title track, “Dancing on the Edge of Love”, “Forget Everything I Know”, and “Just a Little”.
Music Matters CBC
- Music Matters CBC
Discography
Angels & Ordinary Men - EMI - 1996 - Juno Nominee, Double Canadian Radio Award Nominee
(Three Top 40 Hits in Canada)
Wendy Lands Sings The Music Of The Pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman - Hipo/Universal - 2003 (Companion CD to the Oscar winning Film, The Pianist)
Mumble - Rebelette/Fontana North - 2011
- Critically acclaimed
- Thousands of paid downloads
- First single from new release,"Just A Little" has become a "hit" on Toronto's legendary jazzfm.91 as well as Planet Jazz in Montreal. -
- Wendy Lands has been playing to sold out crowds in Ontario and Quebec.
Photos
Bio
JUNO nominated and double Canadian Radio Award nominated singer - songwriter Wendy Lands’ newest release, Mumble, aches with a vulnerable intimacy - a jazzy undertow that sets her far apart from the pack as both a singer and a songwriter.
In the late 1990s Wendy Lands released Angels & Ordinary Men, a moody and personal collection of beautifully crafted original songs that won her a record deal with EMI Music Canada and a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music L.A. along with award nominations, rave reviews and a great deal of radio airplay, culminating in hitting the #1 spot on Toronto’s 99.9 FM.
Following the success of Angels & Ordinary Men, Wendy moved to L.A. and was chosen to record the companion CD to the Oscar winning film, The Pianist. Wendy Lands Sings The Music of The Pianist was released in 2002 by Hippo/Universal USA and praised by Variety, USA Today, The Record and more. The organic and jazz influenced tone of that project, inspired Wendy to create the songs that would eventually become, Mumble.
Lands co- produced the 11 original songs on Mumble with Emmy winner Don Breithaupt, JUNO winner Greg Kavanagh and life-long collaborator - Jim Gillard. Each of them is heard in every breath, note, blast and refrain that is Mumble.
As a songwriter Wendy Lands has collaborated with the likes of Paul Williams and Melissa Manchester and as a singer, she’s been fortunate enough to study jazz improvisation with the great Sheila Jordan – who was one of Lands’ first supporters – letting Wendy know that she had great belief in her talent long before anyone else.
In concert, Wendy Lands performs her critically acclaimed, gem-like songs with a smoldering intensity. Backed by a brilliant quartet that hangs on every intimate nuance of her sparsely yet soulfully arranged compositions, she is, in a word – mesmerizing.
www.wendylands.com
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