Michel Delville

Michel Delville is a musician, writer and lecturer born in Liège, Belgium.

His recent musical projects - most of which are signed to New York-based label MoonJune Records - include The Wrong Object, Machine Mass feat. Dave Liebman, douBt, Comicoperando, Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese and 48Cameras. He has played and recorded with Elton Dean, Dave Liebman, Annie Whitehead, Harry Beckett, Chris Cutler, Robin Verheyen, Richard Sinclair, Ed Mann, Tony Bianco, Alex Maguire, Dagmar Krause, Benoît Moerlen, Karen Mantler, Geoff Leigh, Robin Rimbaud, John Edwards, Stanley Zappa, Gilad Atzmon, and many others jazz & rock luminaries.

The last few years have been a productive period, with recording and touring taking Delville to many different countries, including Japan, the United States, Canada, England, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Wales, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Greece. Delville is regularly featured in Downbeat, Guitar Player, Jazzwise, All About Jazz, Jazzitalia, Musica Jazz and other high profile international magazines. In 2018 he was voted one of the 3 best electric guitarists of the year by Arnaldo DeSouteiro's Annual Jazz Station Poll.

Delville teaches literature and comparative literature at the University of Liège. He is the author or editor of some thirty books and more than two hundred articles pertaining to comparative poetics and interdisciplinary studies. His awards and distinctions include the SAMLA Book Award, the Choice Outstanding Book Award, the Wernaers Prize for the promotion of research and the diffusion of scientific knowledge and the Belgian American Educational Foundation Alumni Award.

Awards

In 2018 he was voted one of the 3 best electric guitarists of the year by Arnaldo DeSouteiro's Annual Jazz Station Poll, which also voted douBt 3rd best Instrumental Group in 2010.

Gear

Ibanez Roadstar II Series Brunetti Overtone 2 Roland GR09 guitar synth Seymour Duncan pick-ups Line6 Echo Park Dunlop Cry Baby etc.

Machine Mass: Inti

by John Kelman
May 9, 2023

One of music's most remarkable qualities is its ability to provide a context for expression of otherwise indescribable feelings. The genesis of Machine Mass Trio came at a time of duress for Tony Bianco, the expat American drummer who, since relocating to Europe in the mid-1990s, has performed with A-list improvising musicians including Elton Dean, Evan Parker and Alexander Von Schlippenbach. He's also a charter member of douBt, alongside fellow MMT mate, Belgian guitarist {Michel Delville. “My wife ...

Album Review

Machine Mass feat. Dave Liebman: Inti

by Neri Pollastri
August 26, 2014

Machine Mass nasce nel 2010 come duo tra Tony Bianco e Michel Delville, in un momento esistenzialmente drammatico per il batterista, colpito dalla perdita della moglie. Dopo una messa a punto in Europa e una serie di concerti negli States, i due decidono di dare una svolta al gruppo ospitando in questo CD Dave Liebman, che con entrambi aveva avuto varie collaborazioni e che ne arricchisce le possibilità espressive e timbriche. Il lavoro si ispira esplicitamente al ...

Album Review

Machine Mass feat. Dave Liebman: Inti

by Glenn Astarita
April 16, 2014

Renowned saxophonist Dave Liebman's legacy as a musician who radiates illimitable vigor and a broad artistic expanse, hearkens back to his stint with Miles Davis and seemingly countless collaborations with a who's who in jazz amid an extensive resume as a leader. On this supercharged jazz-fusion gala he is the featured artist with spiraling young star, Belgium guitarist Michel Delville (The Wrong Object), ace drummer Tony Bianco (Elton Dean, and Alexander Von Schlippenbach). Delville's stinging phraseology, angular wah-wah ...

Interview

Michel Delville: Guitar, Improv & Electro

by Jean-Pierre Goffin
February 1, 2014

Besides teaching at the University of Liège, Michel Delville is widely regarded as one of the most original musicians and composers of the current jazz, rock and jazz-rock scenes. His latest offering, Machine Mass' INTI (2014), recorded with Dave Liebman and Tony Bianco, has just been released by New-York-based label MoonJune Records. Michel Delville: According to my parents, I was a compulsive listener of Mozart and Beethoven at the age of five or six. In my early teens ...

Guitarist Michel 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. —Duncan Heining, Jazzwise

Irrepressible guitarist Michel Delville is at home in virtually any musical context. In a scene crowded with hotshot guitar heroes, he has an immediately identifiable sound and the maturity and pacing of his solos truly stands out. —Dave Wayne, All About Jazz