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For his 11th album as a leader and second on Palmetto Records, baritone saxophonist and bass clarinet ace Brian Landrus gathered an all-star crew to help bring awareness to a grave matter of life or death on Red List: Music Dedicated to the Preservation of Our Endangered Species. As he wrote in the liner notes: “I recently began researching the many endangered species on our planet. It broke my heart to learn that there are only eight vaquitas, 67 Javan rhinos and fewer than 850 mountain gorillas left on earth. Spreading awareness of this tragic global situation is part of the impetus for this album.” Hoping that Red List will help to facilitate “critical yet uncomfortable conversations about changing our global habit of destroying nature for our own gain,” Landrus is collaborating with the organization Save The Elephants to sound the alarm. He is joined by trombonist Ryan Keberle, keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer, guitarist Nir Felder, tenor saxophonist Ron Blake, alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, percussionist John Hadfield, trumpeter Steve Roach, drummer Rudy Royston and vocalist Corey King. Together they create entrancing grooves, lush harmonies, evocative interludes and epic crescendos, all in the service of Landrus’ thoughtful compositions that bring attention to the plight of 13 endangered species. (The Red List was compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk of animal, fungus and plant species.)