For Grammy Consideration: Best Large Jazz Ensemble – Brian Landrus "Generations"

Saxophonist/composer Brian Landrus's new orchestra recording Generations has been submitted for the first round of Grammy voting.  It's in Field 10 – Jazz, Category 24 – Best Large Jazz Ensemble.

This stunning project features a 25-piece all-star orchestra. Far from a standard big band project and unlike any orchestral jazz ensemble that's come before it, The Brian Landrus Orchestra incorporates inspiration from classical music, hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, reggae and world music – with "inspiration" being the key word. In Landrus' inventive hands these diverse genres are deconstructed and absorbed, emerging in startling and unrecognizable ways to conjure a dramatic and thrilling sonic landscape.

“This is really like nothing I've ever heard before.  It's going to be amazing and I can't wait to hear the final product!” – Joe Locke

“To be part of Brian's vision is enlightening.  It causes me optimism." – Billy Hart

"With Generations...[Landrus] takes the jazz big band tradition into the mesosphere." – Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times

"★★★★★....a composer of great strength and substance... Generations brings together a twenty-five piece jazz orchestra to realize Landrus' broad-minded, wide-eyed compositions in stunning fashion. We use terms like 'breathtaking' and 'awe-inspiring' with far too much ease these days, but both tags truly fit here. And you can add 'brilliant' to the list....  It's an aural amalgam of incredible beauty, extensive thought, and intricate design, brought to life by a to-die-for cast with a skillful and charismatic leading man....  Landrus' next level thinking, strong writing chops, and instrumental prowess, coupled with the contributions of his all-star assemblage, put Generations into a category all its own. It's a nonpareil work of high art destined for many a 'best of' list." – Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz

"★★★★.  Ambitious in scope and vision....Generations is, no doubt, just the beginning for a player-composer who is well-versed and right at home painting on a big canvas." – John Ephland, DownBeat

Monumental in creative ambition, imaginative scope, and artistic achievement – not to mention sheer scale – Generations is the breathtaking debut of the Brian Landrus Orchestra, a 25-piece all-star ensemble stocked with a stunning array of the most inventive musicians in modern music. These adventurous virtuosos have congregated to realize the extraordinary, sweeping music of composer, baritone saxophonist and low woodwind master Brian Landrus, whose work combines a lifetime’s worth of wide-ranging listening and playing into an arrestingly bold, radiant and singular vision.

Far from a standard big band project and unlike any orchestral jazz ensemble that’s come before it, the Brian Landrus Orchestra incorporates inspiration from classical music, hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, reggae and world music – with “inspiration” being the key word. In Landrus’ inventive hands these diverse genres are deconstructed and absorbed, emerging in startling and unrecognizable ways to conjure a dramatic and thrilling sonic landscape.

The title Generations carries multiple meanings for Landrus – including influences that span centuries from Bach to Ellington to Motown to Led Zeppelin to J Dilla; the family members that inspired Landrus and his music, from his father to his children; and the generations of musicians who’ve come together to breathe life into these deeply personal compositions. The drum chair alone features a four-decade difference in age, from the legendary Billy Hart to rising star drummer Justin Brown.

The awe-inspiring ensemble also features Jamie Baum, Tom Christensen, Darryl Harper, Michael Rabinowitz, Alden Banta and Landrus himself on woodwinds; Debbie Schmidt, Ralph Alessi, Igmar Thomas, Alan Ferber and Marcus Rojas on brass; harpist Brandee Younger and a string section featuring Sara Caswell, Mark Feldman, Joyce Hammann, Meg Okura, Lois Martin, Nora Krohn, Jody Redhage and Maria Jeffers; vibraphonist Joe Locke; and bassists Jay Anderson and Lonnie Plaxico. The Orchestra is conducted by bandleader JC Sanford, who has also held the baton for the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble and the Alice Coltrane Orchestra. Landrus co-produced the album with fellow composers Robert Livingston Aldridge and Frank Carlberg.

Landrus comes to the project with a wealth of experience both as a leader and as a performer with some of the world’s most distinctive artists from a variety of genres: he’s toured the world in superstar Esperanza Spalding’s band and played in Ryan Truesdell’s prize-winning Gil Evans Project as well as working with the likes of Bob Brookmeyer, Rufus Reid, Danilo Perez, Frank Kimbrough, Gary Smulyan, Maria Schneider, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, George Garzone, Bob Moses, Louis Nash, Nicholas Urie, Jerry Bergonzi, Ayn Inserto, Alan Ferber, Uri Caine and Ralph Alessi, among others.

Generations is the culmination of a long-held dream for Landrus, whose previous releases – both with his Quartet and the aptly-named Kaleidoscope – were vibrant but necessarily scaled-down interpretations of the saxophonist’s formidable ambitions. “I’ve had these colors in my head for as far back as I can remember,” he says. “I would always have to strip down what I was hearing into its raw form to use what I had available to me.”

A full-scale orchestra project began to seem more within reach once Landrus, who holds two master’s degrees (in jazz composition and jazz saxophone) from New England Conservatory, entered a PhD program in classical composition at Rutgers University. Studying the scores of the world’s greatest composers, he was compelled to allow his vision free rein, leading to the multi-hued, densely inventive music of Generations. Of course, such a mammoth undertaking is easier to fantasize than to achieve, but a combination of passion, risk-taking and determination allowed Landrus to bring the orchestra to fruition.

Landrus’ compositions incorporate his encyclopedic influences in ground-breaking, original fashion. The merger of hip-hop and jazz for instance, has become a common one; but you’ll hear no easily identifiable grooves or beats in Landrus’ music. Instead, the composer spent years transcribing dozens of hip-hop tracks, with an especial concentration on the work of pioneering producer J Dilla, and then parceled those rhythms into the strings. The result is an unconventional but invitingly complex weave of sounds and textures that converge in deft, surprising forms.

“Growing up listening to Motown and hip-hop and everything else that I loved and played with, those influences were going to creep in regardless of what I did,” Landrus says. “I just had to try to put them together as well as I could and try to imagine how it could all work. It’s a puzzle to get it to fit together properly, but it gives the music a different color that I’ve never heard before, familiar but new.”

The centerpiece of the album, and its launching-off point, is the “Jeru Concerto,” a four-movement feature for the composer’s baritone named for and inspired by his son Jeru – the namesake of bari master Gerry “Jeru” Mulligan and not yet born when Landrus began writing the piece. Propelled by the throaty churn of the orchestra’s low voices, the first movement envelops Landrus’ sinuous lines in lushly wafting strings and buoyant percussion; a solo turn for the leader initiates the gentle second movement, while the third mingles tension and tenderness, perhaps an illustration of the nervous anticipation that ushers any newborn into the world. The final movement, penned after Jeru’s birth, explodes with an infectious joy unable to contain a father’s pride.

Landrus’ family is also at the core of several other pieces. His daughter lends her name to “Ruby,” who recognized her inquisitive spirit in the music as he was writing it. The haunting “Every Time I Dream” depicts a love that proved elusive for years until finally becoming embodied. Landrus pays tribute to his father with “The Warrior,” which depicts not a ferocious fighter but a man of gentle strength and stoic perseverance.

“Orchids” began as a dream, an atmosphere evocatively suggested by the combination of Brandee Younger’s harp and Joe Locke’s vibes. The love story gradually builds to an ecstatic crescendo, but ends on an ambiguous note – like many dreams and, sadly, many romances. “Arrow in the Night,” its title taken from a Buddhist saying regarding evil people who lurk in the shadows, came to Landrus fully formed, its mesmerizing, slow surges like broad, intense brush strokes. “Human Nature” evolves from the solitary to the communal, maintaining a spiritual urgency throughout as the unsung title lyrics are passed from instrument to instrument. The rhythmic intricacy of “Arise” was inspired by a dance collaboration and imbibes elements from Electronic Dance Music (EDM) and Latin jazz, though as always in transformative ways.

Rale Micic, John Abercrombie, Peter Bernstein, Lage Lund - Inspired (ARTIST SHARE 2017)

By Raul da Gama / jazzdagama

There has not been, nor will there likely be, a dearth of guitarists acknowledging a very large debt to and paying homage to Jim Hall. However, the nonchalant, playful charm of Hall’s musical genius can neither be masked, nor underscored with greater profundity than in the exquisite performances on Inspired by this quartet that includes John Abercrombie, Peter Bernstein, Rale Micic and Lage Lund. Each of the guitarists frames this recital with sizeable performances either solo, in duo, trio and quartet formations. In all instances the music takes the form of a vignette that is hushed and reflective, where the guitarists purr seductively and there are numerous magical moments gifted to the listener by each of the musicians throughout the recording.

One cannot help but feel that Micic, Bernstein and Lund look to John Abercrombie to lead with the sublime delicacy of his thumb and finger picking. It should come as no surprise that this should be so. Abercrombie’s artful musicianship is well-formed and well-suited for this purpose. His maturity and his style remain deceptive, his limpid, euphonious tone artfully leavening his logical, but nonetheless oblique and unpredictable melodic thinking. It’s just the kind of thing you would want to draw into the music if you were Micic, Bernstein and Lund in the first place. As if to capitalize on this priceless gift from Abercrombie each of the others adds his own warmth, swelling dynamics and subtle inflections to three of Jim Hall’s original compositions on this recording: “Dream Steps”, “Bon Ami” and “All Across the City”. In each of these three charts the Inspired guitarists prove adept at creating monumental, all-pervading ensembles while leaving – in each instance – breathing space for the voice of the individual. The pieces played solo – “Alone Together” by Micic, “My Ideal” by Bernstein, “Body and Soul” by Lund and “Embraceable You” by Abercrombie – a performances of insurmountable beauty.

In other cases – music in which they perform as duos, trios or in the instance of the quartet performance – the guitarists offer individual voices, crucial textural components and complex meditations on the interactions between visceral humanity and the vitality that each of them brings to the music. Although one is hard-pressed to single out any particular song to make a case for this, “All Across the City” the one quartet piece on the album is the epitomé of this sublime interaction. It really is a flawless record where a quiet bravura element is present no matter where or to whom the listener’s ear is tuned into for, from end to end, the music seems to flow unimpeded as if gleefully egged on by the ghost of Jim Hall himself.

Brian Landrus Launches Major Orchestra Album via Artistshare

Photo © Vince Segalla

Drawing upon his favorite musical Influences, from hip-hop and Motown to jazz, classical and reggae, Brian Landrus launches a major new orchestra album via ArtistShare

Performers include Landrus, Ralph Alessi, Billy Hart, Joe Locke, Brandee Younger, Lonnie Plaxico, Marcus Rojas, Jamie Baum, Tom Christensen, Darryl Harper, Jay Anderson Michael Rabinowitz, Alden Banta, Justin Brown, Igmar Thomas, Chris Komer, Alan Ferber, Chris Turner, Sara Caswell, Mark Feldman, Joyce Hammann, Meg Okura, Lois Martin, Kallie Ciechomski,

Jody Redhage, Maria Jeffers and conductor JC Sanford

“Landrus demonstrates tonal nuance, melodic sense and instrumental command that set him apart from his peers.” — DownBeat

 “A baritone saxophonist of convincing authority.” — NY Times

ArtistShare, the internet’s first “crowdfunding” platform, has just launched Generations by The Brian Landrus Orchestra. The project features composer, baritone saxophonist and low woodwind master Brian Landrus and a stellar 26-piece orchestra performing eight of Landrus’ compositions, the centerpiece of which is “The Jeru Concerto,” a four-movement work inspired by and written for Landrus’ two-year-old son. Other compositions on the recording include “Ruby,” written for Landrus’ four-year-old daughter and “The Warrior,” written for his dad.

Fans will be able to participate directly in Landrus’ creative process and experience Generations as it is created, with access to exclusive videos, audios, downloads, photos and news about project. Levels of participation range from $12.95 for all of this and a download of the CD, to the $10,000 Executive Producer level which includes Executive Producer credit on the new recording, an autographed CD, a private concert, invitation to the mixing and mastering session, VIP access to all Landrus performances for 1 year, and more.  The recording, which will be released June 27, 2017, is powered by ArtistShare and available exclusively at ArtistShare

“The music I’ve composed for this recording is a blend of all of my musical influences since I was a kid. I grew up loving and listening to Motown, soul, jazz, funk, hip hop, reggae, Latin jazz, world music, and classical music,” says Landrus.  “The music is influenced by all of these sources and the compositions themselves are structured, yet have the freedom of jazz improvisation built in. I wrote this music to give these musicians the freedom to express their individual voices.”

Joe Locke, who plays on the project, said after hearing the music in rehearsal: “This is really like nothing I’ve ever heard before. It’s going to be amazing and I can’t wait to hear the final product!”  Billy Hart agreed: “To be part of Brian’s vision is enlightening.  It causes me optimism.” 

Musicians on the project include Landrus (bari sax, bass clarinet, alto flute), Jamie Baum (flute,alto flute), Tom Christensen (oboe), Darryl Harper (clarinet), Michael Rabinowitz (bassoon), Alden Banta (contrabassoon), Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Igmar Thomas (trumpet), Chris Komer (horn), Alan Ferber (trombone), Marcus Rojas (tuba), Chris Turner (vocals), Brandee Younger (harp), Joe Locke (vibraphone) Billy Hart and Justin Brown (drums), Sara Caswell, Mark Feldman, Joyce Hammann, and Meg Okura (violin), Lois Martin and Kallie Ciechomski (viola), Jody Redhage and Maria Jeffers (cello), Jay Anderson and Lonnie Plaxico (bass).  The music will be conducted by JC Sanford with Brian Landrus and Bob Aldridge serving as producers.


"We are living in extraordinary times for musicians and listeners alike," says Landrus, "So many genres and styles are colliding and influencing each other in amazing ways, creating compelling music that knows no boundaries or limits. Exploring these wildly interesting creative intersections is what drives my work. The compositions that we will be recording for Generations are diverse and complex. In the end, each musician will have the space to take off, and significantly contribute to project's collective power, power I hear in the streets and the concert halls, imagine in my head, and feel in my heart."

The recording will have about 70 minutes of orchestral music. “The Jeru Concerto” is written for baritone saxophone and features a mix of jazz, classical, hip hop, and soul.  The four-movement piece is about 20 minutes long.  Landrus started composing the work right after his son was born.  Once Landrus got to know Jeru’s “adorable, generous, and feisty demeanor,” he wrote the fourth movement. The concerto covers an extreme range and goes from the lowest the baritone sax can play up though the top notes of the altissimo range. 

Other pieces to be featured include “Ruby,” written for Landrus’ daughter.  “I tried to match the joy of life which emanates from Ruby’s soul.  She is an inquisitive and loving girl, and I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful daughter.”   The album also includes “The Warrior,” a track written for Landrus’ father and other works reflecting his “journey through life and love.”

Landrus booked the recording session a year ago when he only had two pieces composed.  “This is something which I learned from my dear friend and mentor Bob Brookmeyer, who said ‘If you want something to happen, book a date and start writing.’”

Brian Landrus

One of the most unique and powerful voices on low reeds and a composer of striking abilities, Brian Landrus has released six widely acclaimed albums as a leader, toured the world as part of star bassist-vocalist Esperanza Spalding's band and contributed to such ensembles as the Grammy-winning Gil Evans Project.  In addition, Landrus has performed with the likes of John Lockwood, Lewis Nash, Frank Kimbrough, Donny McCaslin, Steve Wilson, Jay Anderson, Matt Wilson, Maria Schneider, Rufus Ried, Uri Caine, Anat Cohen, Steve Swell, the Ayn Inserto Orchestra, Frank Carlberg, and Alan Ferber, among others.  Landrus has been voted a Rising Star multiple years running in the DownBeat Critics Poll earning a spot as the #1 Rising Star in 2015 before moving up to the Baritone Saxophonist category in 2016, marking his place as one of the top bari players in the world. He's also earned a place on DownBeat's list for his bass clarinet prowess.

Born in 1978 and raised in Nevada, Landrus began playing saxophone at 12 and was performing professionally by 15. He earned his bachelor’s degree in saxophone performance at the University of Nevada-Reno and two master’s degrees at New England Conservatory, one in jazz composition and the other in jazz saxophone. He is currently a PhD candidate in classical composition at Rutgers where he also teaches. The New York Times notes “the tenderness in his playing feels as warm and accessible as his writing.”