BRIAN LANDRUS

PLAYS ELLINGTON & STRAYHORN

Palmetto Records

Brian Landrus, baritone saxophone/bass sax/bass clarinet/contra alto clarinet/ piccolo/ C flute/alto flute/bass flute; Dave Stryker, electric & acoustic guitar; Jay Anderson, acoustic bass; Billy Hart, drums.

I am a real baritone saxophone fan, so I was very excited to hear Dr. Brian Landrus take on the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.  Landrus is a low woodwind specialist.  On this recording you will hear him featured on a wide spectrum of low wind instruments.  With the expertise of Grammy-winning engineer and producer, John Kilgore, Landrus layers his multi-hued instruments, developing an orchestral sound with three other bandmates, musicians who are also excellent on their instruments.  Dave Stryker brings his guitars to the project, interjecting both electric energy and acoustic guitar.  Jay Anderson is solid on double bass and Billy Hart is always awesome and creative on trap drums.  They play some of my favorite tunes including “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing” with a Bossa Nova arrangement.  They glide smoothly across my listening room on “Daydream.”  I have to play this one three-times to soak up all the beauty in the Landrus technique.  His solo drips with emotion, with the rhythm guitar of Stryker whisking us to Brazil and back.

“… I didn’t want to just do a quartet record of Duke tunes.  It occurred to me that one way to do the music justice would be to use all the woodwinds at my disposal and make something that felt as rich as the originals,” Landrus explained in his press package.

“There’s an elegance and sophistication to Ellington and Strayhorn’s music.  But it’s mixed in with this darker quality that Mingus always recognized … these harmonic rubs and beautiful textures.  I definitely wanted to add my own colors to these compositions. …  I felt the unusual timbres of the woodwinds would give them a unique atmosphere that hadn’t been heard before on these tunes,” Landrus shared.

Bass Saxophone Improv 12/4/23 (youtube.com)

The woodwinds definitely worked their magic and created a rich, beautiful texture of low tones, layered on this project by Landrus.  I absolutely love the way he arranged songs like “Prelude to a Kiss.”  Stryker opens the piece with his acoustic guitar drawing me into a brief whirlpool of melodic notes. The Landrus baritone saxophone sings all the bass notes with Landrus using other low woodwinds to please the ear and develop this unforgettable melody. “Come Sunday” is another one of my favorites. When it comes down to the music of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, I have to admit they are all my favorites.  Billy Hart sparkles on their arrangement of “The Telecasters” tap-dancing all over his drum set with light, defined stick-licks.  His dancing drums made me wish for a swing-dance partner.

This is a celebration of three great jazz artists, musicians, and composers: Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and Dr. Brian Landrus.  Landrus is an internationally recognized multi-instrumentalist who gets to spotlight his brilliance during this incredible project.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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