Jazz Articles about Brian Landrus

About Brian Landrus

Album Review

New England Jazz Collaborative: Tributaries

Read "Tributaries" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 25, 2026

Tributaries is the debut recording by the seventeen-member New England Jazz Collaborative whose origin and purpose are summed up as follows: “an artist-led non-profit collective dedicated to commissioning, presenting and documenting new music and expanding the audience for what remains a thrilling and vital musical form." The album consists of half a dozen fresh compositions by a quartet of talented composers and arrangers: NEJC founder Jeremy Cohen, Matan Rubinstein, Darryl Harper and Sam Spear, with the ensemble ably ...

Album Review

Brian Landrus: Just When You Think You Know

Read "Just When You Think You Know" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
July 7, 2026

Non si può eccellere ogni volta. Dopo il superlativo Plays Ellington & Strayhorn Brian Landrus presenta un album meno palpitante ma sempre d'alto livello. Affermato polistrumentista della timbrica grave, Landrus privilegia in questo disco l'uso di sax tenore, flauto soprano e contralto agli strumenti che l'hanno reso famoso: il sax baritono. il clarinetto basso e il flauto basso. Nei quattordici brani del disco il sax tenore è protagonista in cinque ed i flauti in quattro. Al sax baritono sono dedicati ...

Album Review

The Greg Hopkins Jazz Orchestra: Chronography

Read "Chronography" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 31, 2026

On Chronography, Boston-based trumpeter and composer Greg Hopkins and his 16-member Jazz Orchestra revitalize ten of the leader's never-before-recorded compositions and arrangements, most of them well-known standards from the Great American Songbook, that span more than half a century of astute and perceptive songwriting. The earliest, Willard Robison's “Old Folks," was arranged for the Buddy Rich band in 1972; the most recent, Duke Ellington's “In a Sentimental Mood," for his own orchestra in 2018. Between those dates rest ...

Album Review

Brian Landrus: Just When You Think You Know

Read "Just When You Think You Know" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
April 5, 2026

Brian Landrus, best known for his eloquent performances on baritone sax, shows his versatility--as player, composer and arranger--on Just When You Think You Know, his tenth album as leader, adding tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute and bass flute to enlarge an impressive arsenal of musical weaponry. In fact, Landrus unlimbers the baritone on only three of the album's fourteen eclectic numbers--all of which he wrote and arranged. He plays tenor sax on five selections, one or another of ...

Radio & Podcasts

New Music From Landrus, Imboden, Crispell & Jormin, Frisell, And More

by Bob Osborne
March 19, 2026

This selection offers a sophisticated journey through the contemporary jazz landscape, balancing the refined elegance of established labels with the bold spirit of independent releases. From expansive orchestral arrangements and intimate live performances to experimental dialogues and vibrant global influences, the playlist captures a diverse array of textures and moods. Whether exploring melodic introspection or energetic improvisation, these tracks collectively celebrate the evolving colour and depth of modern creative music.Playlist Brian Landrus “Averse" from Just When You Think ...

Album Review

John Vanore & Abstract Truth: Easter Island Suite

Read "Easter Island Suite" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
January 26, 2026

The spirit of Oliver Nelson and the thousand ghosts of Easter Island loom large over John Vanore & Abstract Truth's Easter Island Suite. The Nelson side of the equation has its roots in trumpeter Vanore's attendance at a Nelson-directed summer program at Indiana University, which led him, as a student, into deeper explorations of Nelson's work, including 1961 classic Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse!). Hence, the name of his ensemble: John Vanore & Abstract Truth. As for Easter Island--the ...

Album Review

John Vanore & Abstract Truth: Easter Island Suite

Read "Easter Island Suite" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 15, 2026

The first and last movements of Philadelphia-based trumpeter and composer John Vanore's epic Easter Island Suite were recorded thirty-five years apart, in 1989 and 2024, which says a lot about his determination to shepherd the ambitious enterprise to its conclusion. Movements 2 and 3 of the picturesque Suite were recorded in 2012. Even today, some three hundred years after it was first seen by Western eyes in the form of Dutch explorers led by Jacob Roggeveen, Easter Island, ...