Brian Landrus

Brian Landrus
Brian Landrus in 2012
Background information
Born	(1978-09-14) September 14, 1978 Reno, Nevada, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, avant-garde jazz, jazz fusion
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Saxophone, clarinet, flute
Years active	1994-present
Labels	Cadence Jazz, Blueland, CIMP, Palmetto
Website	brianlandrus.com

Brian Landrus (born September 14, 1978) is a jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and educator.^[1]

Career

Brian Landrus was born in Reno, Nevada, where he began playing professionally at the age of 15. He earned a bachelor's degree in Music Performance at the University of Nevada, Reno.^[2] At the age of 18 he began performing on tenor and baritone saxophone with The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Coasters, The Drifters, and Martha Reeves. In 2003 he moved to Boston in to attend the New England Conservatory^[3] where he earned a master's degree in Jazz Saxophone, and in Jazz Composition.

After graduation in 2007 Landrus recorded his album Forward for Cadence Jazz Records^[4] and moved to New York City.

Landrus leads two ensembles, The Brian Landrus Quartet, and The Brian Landrus Kaleidoscope. The quartet focuses on traditional jazz and the Kaleidoscope incorporates jazz with elements of R&B, reggae, soul, and electronic music while emphasizing improvisation. He specializes in baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, bass clarinet, bass flute, and alto flute.

He has worked with Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Brookmeyer, Michael Cain, Feist, Nir Felder, Mark Feldman, George Garzone, Groundation, Billy Hart, Frank Kimbrough, Mike Love, Donny McCaslin, Ben Monder, Bob Moses, Matthew Parish, Oscar Peñas, Danilo Perez, Lonnie Plaxico, Rufus Reid, Ken Schaphorst, Maria Schneider, Nicholas Urie, and Steve Wilson.

Discography

Brian Landrus in 2015

Press

Landrus has been included as one of the top twenty-five greatest jazz baritone saxophone soloists of all time by The Huffington Post.^[5]

The New York Times wrote that Landrus is "a baritone saxophonist of convincing authority", and "'Kismet', is a three-minute improvisation on bass saxophone, a notoriously bulky instrument that Mr. Landrus handles with feathery grace. He sounds unhurried and thoughtful, deeply attuned to the horn and its register. It's a disarmingly effective coda, like a soufflé that lingers in the mind long after the meal."—Nate Chinen, The New York Times.^[6]

The New York Times wrote in 2015, "The main feature of The Deep Below, an album of austere self-possession by the multireedist Brian Landrus, isn't a band or even a batch of tunes. Instead, as the album's title suggests, it's a sonic register: low and deep, Mr. Landrus's natural range on baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, bass flute and bass clarinet...a star vehicle."^[7]

In 2013 Emusic wrote, "The Brian Landrus Kaleidoscope, Mirage: Outstanding new album by multi-reedist Landrus, who plays bari sax, bass clarinet, bass flute, contra alto clarinet, and bass saxophone for this session. Orchestrated, but with a deft restraint that imbues the music with a quiet chamber jazz sound at times. Music that inspires with an epic nature. Melodies crafted with the precision and beauty of stained glass. Harmonies that invite the listener to just sink into them. One of those albums that, once listened to, gives the sense of having travelled very far distances from your seat by the stereo. Pick of the Week." — Dave Sumner, Emusic^[8]

The Huffington Post named Landrus's Mirage one of the top jazz recordings of 2013.^[9]

Music critic Steve Greenlee wrote in the Boston Globe, "Brian Landrus—who plays baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, and bass flute on Capsule (BlueLand Records)—creates a very special kind of music with his band The Landrus Kaleidoscope. It is modern and contemporary—indeed, pop oriented—but it doesn't give in to the artificial-sweetener trappings of smooth jazz. No, this quintet, which includes pianist Michael Cain (mostly on Fender Rhodes), guitar Nir Felder, bassist Matthew Parish, and drummer Rudy Royston, makes an organic fusion that ignores the boundaries that supposedly separate jazz, rock, pop, and R&B."^[10]

Hrayr Attarian at All About Jazz wrote, "Landrus pushes the boundaries of jazz and explores a more fusion-like style inspired by Motown and other related genres."^[11]

Bill Milkowski of JazzTimes has written, "Baritone sax and bass clarinet ace Brian Landrus takes a refreshing, modernist approach to the jazz quintet."^[12]

Landrus was voted Rising Star Baritone Saxophonist in the Downbeat magazine International Critics Poll in 2010-2016, winning the category in 2015.^[13] He has also been voted Baritone Saxophonist in the established musician category of Downbeat magazine's International Critics Poll in 2012–2016. He toured internationally with Esperanza Spalding.^[14]

References