Leland Whitty
Leland Whitty is a Canadian musician and songwriter. He is part of the instrumental group BADBADNOTGOOD, of which he was a frequent collaborator and touring member before officially joining in 2016. A multi-instrumentalist, Whitty is best known as a tenor saxophonist.
Leland Whitty | |
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Whitty in 2012 | |
Background information | |
Born | Toronto, Ontario |
Origin | Toronto, Ontario |
Occupation(s) | musician, songwriter |
Instruments | saxophone, woodwinds, guitar, piano |
Years active | 2009–present |
Associated acts |
Life and career
Whitty was born in Toronto, Ontario and grew up in the city's East End within a musical family.[1][2][3] Interested in many genres of music growing up, he was a rapper during high school.[4] In the late 2000s, he began studying at Humber College in Toronto, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Music.[5] Around this time, he began performing in the Toronto jazz and soul scene, playing in a variety of local ensembles.[6][7]
While studying at Humber, he met the members of BADBADNOTGOOD and started closely collaborating with them. Whitty appeared on every record of the band's outside of its first, and would often play at shows that were accessible from Toronto beginning in 2012.
Whitty began touring with the group full time in 2015, in part to help play the songs featuring guitar from the 2015 album Sour Soul.[8] He joined the group officially at the beginning of 2016 during the recording of the album IV. Speaking about Whitty, BBNG bassist Chester Hansen noted, "It’s kind of funny, he’s almost been a member of the band forever. We’ve been playing together on and off forever, but as of [2015], we were able to bring him to almost every show. He’s been unofficial since day one, and it felt like it was time to make it official."[9]
As a songwriter and producer, Whitty has helped produced songs for artists like Kendrick Lamar ("Lust."), Daniel Caesar ("Get You"), and Kali Uchis ("After the Storm" featuring Tyler, the Creator and Bootsy Collins), as well as those for smaller Toronto-based acts like Charlotte Day Wilson and Jonah Yano.
In 2019, Whitty scored the Canadian indie thriller Disappearance at Clifton Hill with BBNG drummer Alex Sowinski.[10] Later that year, he recorded a jazz album with former BBNG keyboardist Matthew Tavares; this was released in 2020 as Visions.[11]
Artistry
Whitty is a multi-instrumentalist. On records, he can be heard playing the flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, violin, viola, vibraphone, piano/synthesizer, guitar,[12] bass guitar, and slide guitar.[13] On tour with BBNG, he plays the tenor and soprano saxophone, flute, guitar, and percussion.
Whitty plays a P. Mauriat tenor saxophone and uses a Syos mouthpiece.[14]
Discography
With BADBADNOTGOOD
- BBNG2 (2012); featured artist ("Earl" and "UWM")
- III (2014); featured artist ("Confessions" and "Eyes Closed")
- Sour Soul (with Ghostface Killah) (2015); contributing musician
- IV (2016)
With Alex Sowinski
- Arrangement Studio – Arrangement Vol. 01 (2018) (also with Duncan Hood)[15]
- Soundtrack of Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2019)[10]
With Matthew Tavares
Other credits
- Tesseract – Impossible Images (2012); band member[17][18]
- Tesseract – Visions of Collisions (2013); band member[18]
- BBNG – "Sustain" single (2014); additional instrumentation[19]
- Jesse Futerman and Haleek Maul – unspecified project (2014); saxophone, flute[20][21]
- Arkells – High Noon (2014); tenor saxophone[22]
- Arkells – Arkells Sing Motown (2014); saxophone[23]
- Leland Whitty – Leland Whitty EP (2015) (recorded 2013)[24][25]
- The Cool Hands – Evening EP (2015); saxophone[26]
- Eshaton – "Toronto, Ottawa, Low" (2015); tenor saxophone
- Intervals – "Fable" from The Shape of Colour (2015); saxophone[27]
- Eshaton –Torus (2016); bass clarinet[28]
- Jerry Paper – Toon Time Raw! (2016)[29]
- Katie McBride – 08215 EP (2016); guitar[30]
- Matty – Déjàvu (2018); saxophone[31]
- Keys N Krates – "Flute Loop (Live)" from Live in Toronto (2018); flute[32]
- Charlotte Day Wilson – "Stone Women" and "Falling Apart" from Stone Woman EP (2018); tenor saxophone and strings[33]
- Mont Jake – "Come Closer" (feat. Leland Whitty and Gene Fisher) from EP2 (2018)
- Jerry Paper – Like A Baby (2018); flute, slide guitar, violin[34]
- Matty – "Selfportrait" single (2019)[35]
- Jane's Party – "Surfing on a Sine Wave" and "Acknowledgements" (feat. Leland Whitty)" from Casual Island (2019); saxophone[36]
- Jaunt – All In One (2020)[37]
- Lowell Whitty – Need to Know (2020); tenor saxophone[38]
- Jonah Yano – Souvenir (2020); guitar, bass, keys, vibraphone, bass clarinet, mixing
- Ryan Hemsworth – "Keep Touch" from Pout (2020); flute, clarinet, bass clarinet[39]
References
- "Hangout Handbook Filling Up in Toronto with BADBADNOTGOOD". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
- "Lowell Whitty – The Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Club". therex.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- Murphy, Nolan (2019). "Poster – Toronto Brass Bash". Facebook. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
The Murphy/Whitty Band A true FAMILY band, comprised of two of the biggest families in the Toronto music scene, bringing you two amazing sets of traditional jazz from Ragtime all the way to Dixieland! Tpt - Kaelin Murphy Clari - Riordain Murphy Ten - Leland Whitty Tbn - Nolan Murphy Banjo/Guit - Gary Murphy Bass - Gram Whitty Drums - Lowell Whitty
- "BADBADNOTGOOD and Friends". Interview Magazine. 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- "BadBadNotGood: They play well with others". SOCAN Words and Music. 2016-08-30. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- "BF Soul Electronic Press Kit" (PDF). 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
- "Tesseract CD Release – The Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Club". therex.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
- "BADBADNOTGOOD and Friends". Interview Magazine. 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ""We do a Combo of Everything We Listen to": An Interview with BADBADNOTGOOD". Passion of the Weiss. 2016-06-06. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- "Members of Badbadnotgood make their film debut with a creepy aggressive score". CBC. 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- "Here's When Matty and BADBADNOTGOOD's Leland Whitty Will Release Their New Album". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
- "BadBadNotGood - IV". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- "Jerry Paper - Like A Baby". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- "Leland Whitty from Badbadnotgood plays a Syos saxophone mouthpiece". Shape Your Own Sound. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- "VOL. 01 CASSETTE". Arrangement Studio. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
- "Matthew Tavares & Leland Whitty - Visions". Light In The Attic Records. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
- "Tesseract (5) - Impossible Images". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Tesseract CD Release – The Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Club". therex.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
- "BadBadNotGood - Can't Leave The Night / Sustain". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Jesse Futerman". Retrieved 2020-07-15.
- "Jesse Futerman is Bringing Jazz Back". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
- "Arkells - High Noon". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Arkells - Arkells Sing Motown". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "ep, by Leland Whitty". HAVNrecords. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Leland Whitty". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
- "The Cool Hands - Evening". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Intervals - The Shape of Colour". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Eschaton (7) - Torus". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "REVIEW: Jerry Paper - Toon Time Raw!". ThrdCoast. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- "Katie McBride - 08215". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Matty* - Déjàvu". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Keys N Krates - Live In Toronto". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Charlotte Day Wilson - Stone Woman". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- "Jerry Paper - Like A Baby". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Matty* - Selfportrait". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "Surfing On A Sinewave (feat. Leland Whitty), by Jane's Party". Jane's Party. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- "All In One, by Jaunt". Jaunt. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- "Need To Know, by Lowell Whitty". Lowell Whitty. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
- "Ryan Hemsworth Announces New EP, Shares Collaboration with BADBADNOTGOOD's Leland Whitty". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2020-08-17.