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Byron Landham

Byron Christopher Landham (aka) "Wookie" was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 16th, 1969. He is the youngest of six children (four girls and two boys). His older brother Robert began studying clarinet and saxophone at the age of 12. Byron, being influenced by his brother and naturally being around all genres of music, took an interest in the drums at the of 7. At the age of 10 he enrolled at Settlement Music School where he studied classical percussion and jazz drumming. The freedom of creative expression in jazz was appealing to Byron, and became his main focus. By the time he graduated from high school, he was a top call on the Philly jazz scene. In 1992, his musical prowess had earned him steady work with some of the finest musicians in the world.

That includes stints with the late great Betty Carter, George Coleman, Bobby Hutcherson, Joey DeFrencesco, Frank Wes, Pat Martino, Cyrus Chestnut, Russell Malone, Ruth Naomi Floyd, Hannibal Lokumbe and the Liberation Orchestra, and most recently a 3 year stint with six time Grammy Award winner Dave Sanborn. Byron Has recorded on at least fifty cd's to his credit as well as co-produced Joey DeFrancesco's Grammy nominated cd "Never Can Say Goodbye" tribute to the late Michael Jackson.

One of Byron's current projects is The Landham Brothers, featuring multitalented reed man and brother Robert Landham. Their latest release on the Straight Street Label is entitled "The Shape of Things To Come" has received rave reviews.

Byron continues to be a strong advocate for jazz education. He's performed drum clinics at several University's and music stores in American and Canada and is currently on faculty at Temple University, Philadelphia (PA), where he serves as an adjunct Professor of Jazz Studies for Drumming. For the past five years he's taught drums and Jazz combo at the "We Love Jazz" summer music camp and jazz festival in Isola Del Cantone (Italy).

Brian Ho: Bridges

Read "Bridges" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 22, 2024

Bridges is a showcase of the Hammond B3 organ's soulful capabilities as performed by the San Francisco Bay area's stellar organist Brian Ho. Accompanied by the rhythm section of the deft guitarist Paul Bollenback and the dynamic drummer Byron Landham, both of whom were members of the late Joey DeFrancesco's trio for over twenty years, this album is a journey through a thoughtfully curated selection of songs blending Ho's original numbers with jazz standards and popular tunes. The ...

Liner Notes

Tim Warfield: One For Shirley

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 20, 2024

Jimmy Smith and Larry Young have continually set the benchmark for creative endeavors involving jazz and the Hammond B-3 organ, Smith being acknowledged for bringing the technical virtuosity of be-bop to the instrument and Young for expanding the vernacular based on the forward-thinking implications of John Coltrane. Somewhere in between these two, a colorful range of styles proliferated throughout the '50s and '60s, from the cocktail jazz of Milt Buckner to the soulful grooves of Big" John Patton. But it ...

Liner Notes

John Swana: Philly Gumbo Vol.2

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 19, 2024

It seems like a lot of up and coming trumpeters these days go for the bop stylings of Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw as their main influence. Far fewer look to players like Art Farmer or Kenny Wheeler for inspiration. That's what has made watching the development of Philadelphia trumpet man John Swana so fascinating over the years. While he has the chops needed to communicate in the high-octane language of be-bop, his tone and use of space suggest that ...

Liner Notes

John Swana: Philly Gumbo

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 15, 2024

It seems like a case of the big fish swimming in a small pond. So while Philadelphia native John Swana currently chooses to make his home in the city of Brotherly Love, it's clearly evident that this world-class musician could succeed easily in the Big Apple, the undisputed center of jazz activity in America. Taking up the trumpet at the age of 11, Swana was hooked on jazz after one spin of a Dizzy Gillespie record. Lucky enough to get ...

Album Review

Maci Miller: Nine

Read "Nine" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
August 18, 2023

jny:Philadelphia-based singer Maci Miller gives her audience a variety of looks, all of them good. On first hearing, Blossom Dearie, but then, Blossom Dearie was Blossom Dearie. No one ever sounded quite like her. Then again, there is some mid 1960s Nancy Wilson, hushed, clipped, all business. On reflecting that Dearie and Wilson an odd combination do make, one just listens and stops thinking influences, other than “eclectic." Or maybe Billie Holiday, if Miller is in the mood. A Philly ...

Liner Notes

Ed Cherry: Are We There Yet?

by Andrew Scott
February 25, 2023

In debates between Kenneth Miller, Richard Dawkins, and the late Stephen Jay Gould, the “stay in your lane" boundaries that separate science from theology/philosophy become particularly porous, revealing the frequency with which individuals intellectually “drift" in order to hold onto seemingly contradictory opinions of truth (empirical, scientific) and belief. Jazz, no less an ideology, has also become “defined" through a series of maxims ("must swing," “must contain the blues," “must prefigure improvisation") that while articulating general truisms perhaps, ...

Album Review

Ed Cherry: Are We There Yet?

Read "Are We There Yet?" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
February 24, 2023

February is appropriately recognized in the United States as Black History Month. The Cellar Music Group has been in the forefront of acknowledging the importance of Black musicians to jazz in America. With the release of Are We There Yet? by guitarist Ed Cherry, Cellar Music Group presents another release that is led by a Black artist. Cherry who has been a stalwart in the jny: New York jazz scene since 1978, has pulled together a tight band including vibraphonist ...

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Performance / Tour

Philadelphia Jazz Artists, the Landham Brothers, Perform at Michener Art Museum on February 20

Source: Michael Ricci
February 5, 2010

DOYLESTOWN, PA -- The James A. Michener Art Museum presents an all-inclusive night of jazz featuring The Landham Brothers on February 20. These Philadelphia natives have played alongside renowned jazz musicians including Shirley Scott, Joey DeFrancesco, Russell Malone, Orrin Evans and John Swana.

“The Michener has been presenting Jazz Night for the past 13 years. The jazz tradition of the Philadelphia region is very rich and there are so many talented musicians to present," says Zoriana Siokalo, Director of Programs ...
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