Lanny Cordola
Los Angeles, California6 reviews across 4 releases
Lanny Cordola is a Los Angeles guitarist, songwriter and producer whose early career included Giuffria and House of Lords before he began releasing solo work in the Christian music field. His 1991 debut, Electric Warrior, Acoustic Saint, placed instrumental rock beside brief acoustic and experimental passages, with some pieces ending before they seemed fully developed. Of Riffs and Symphonies followed in 1992 with a more unified structure while moving through hard rock, jazz, funk and Latin-influenced guitar. By Salvation Medicine Show in 1998, the emphasis had shifted from guitar technique toward songs and lyrics. Acoustic guitar shared space with dobro, mandolin and ukulele, while horns supplied a blues-oriented setting. Cordola's rough-edged voice suited the record's folk-blues character, including the unusual religious metaphor of a deceased friend playing "God's trombone."
In 1990, Cordola and Ken Tamplin began Magdallan as a studio project, with the group later becoming Magdalen after Tamplin left in 1992. Cordola remained involved through the band's releases under the new name, including Revolution Mind and The Dirt, before returning to House of Lords when that group re-formed around 2000. He played on The Power and the Myth, released in 2004, and continued as a guitarist, producer and songwriter on outside projects. In 2006 he contributed to the Bulgarian group D_2. After visiting Kabul following the 2012 terrorist attack there, he returned to Afghanistan and taught guitar to teenagers, developing youth music work connected with the country.
4 releases reviewed
Electric Warrior, Acoustic Saint
Of Riffs and Symphonies
Blues for the Child
Salvation Medicine Show