MIKE LEBRUN

Albums

Shades is a reflection of Los Angeles. Its block-to-block unpredictability reveals a striking contrast of immense beauty, stark degradation, and fun in the sun. Mike Lebrun’s debut solo album celebrates novel sonic applications of woodwinds, painting a picture of LA through strokes of composition and improvisation.


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lineup

Mike Lebrun - tenor saxophone, flute, alto saxophone (tracks 6, 14), soprano saxophone, clarinet, composition, programming, glockenspiel

Josh Johnson - alto saxophone

Daniel Szabo - piano

Nick Mancini - vibraphone

Anna Butterss - upright bass

Kevin Van Den Elzen - drums

Amber Navran - vocals (5)

Aaron Serfaty - percussion (9)

All songs composed and arranged by Mike Lebrun, except Surfer Girl, by Brian Wilson, and lyrics and vocal arrangement on Going Through the Emotions by Amber Navran.

credits

Talley Sherwood – engineer, editing, mixing
Miles Jensen – engineer
Brian Bullard – mixing
Justin Perkins – mastering
Ars Orum – graphic design


Sextet material recorded on September 20, 21, 2016 at Tritone Recording in Glendale, CA.
Additional percussion recorded at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
All other material recorded at Beakerbox Labs in Los Angeles, CA.

Bands


Linosphere is a Los Angeles progressive collective with Mike alongside Zephyr Avalon, Colin Cook, Jacob Richards, and Chris Lawrence.

LAHO is a Los Angeles-based collective with Mike alongside pianist Adam Hersh, drummer Kevin van den Elzen, and bassist Max Kraus. They toured the Netherlands in 2017 featuring Ben van Gelder.




The Moshier-Lebrun collective, formed in Chicago in 2007, is a longstanding collaboration between composer/pianist Josh Moshier and Mike Lebrun. Mobrun's 2011 Local Colorists EP featured drummer Jon Deitemyer and bassist John Tate.


Joy Not Jaded, released in 2009, featured Mike and Josh alongside Robert Meier (bass), Max Krucoff (drums), and guest John Moulder on guitar

About

Saxophone, woodwinds, composition, production

Saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Lebrun is a fresh voice in genre-bending, jazz-rooted music. With the 2016 release of his debut solo album Shades, Mike cemented his voice as a composer, improviser, and producer. Previously releasing 2 studio albums of original compositions with co-leader Josh Moshier, Mike’s groups have been featured on NPR’s nationally syndicated program Jazz Set. The group has toured throughout the U.S. and South America showcasing their talents. Mike’s composition Jambo won the 2008 International Jazz Composers Symposium’s Best Small Group Composition award. He has been a featured artist with pop & Motown icons including The Temptations and Guster.

Mike received his B.M. in Jazz Studies and Economics from Northwestern University in 2007, where he studied with saxophone under Frederick L. Hemke and John Wojciechowski, and his M.B.A. from the JL Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 2014. Mike also spent a year studying in the Master's of music program with Bob Mintzer at USC.

In addition to his pursuit of music creation and performance, Mike also has 10 years of experience working in the software and investment services industries and is the founder of Beakerbox Records.

info

press

Reviews of Mobrun's Joy Not Jaded


All About Jazz.com| Dan McClenaghan

The Millennials are here.

"Keyboardist Josh Moshier and saxophonist Michael Lebrun, a pair of Chicago-based jazz artists born in the 1980s, delve deeply into the jazz world with Joy Not Jaded. On this fine, high-energy set, the pair and their band craft a modern-leaning sound that remains true to the post-bop tradition…"


All Music Guide| Adam Greenberg

Lebrun and Moshier craft straightforward but clever pieces of melody, then use the band as a whole to ornament heavily around the themes. The result is a surprisingly coherent sound, with clear and intermingling parts, strong solos, and repeating motifs that let the full ensemble shine together.


Chicago Jazz Magazine| Philip Davia

…new and complex compositions, very melodic soloing, infectious grooves and a sense style which illustrates that the future of jazz is in good hands. read full review


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photo credit: Justine Jaime