By Ed Enright | Published April 2026
It’s one thing to listen to a low woodwind specialist play a bunch of large reed instruments at a really high level. But it’s another thing entirely to experience a versatile, sensitive artist like Brian Landrus, who keeps expanding the small army of reed instruments he commands with power, finesse and a distinctive personal voice while working to widen his stylistic range as a jazz composer and bandleader. On his 14th album as a leader — with guitarist Dave Stryker (who returns from 2024’s Brian Landrus Plays Ellington & Strayhorn), pianist/keyboardist Zaccai Curtis (a longtime friend working with Landrus for the first time) and frequent rhythm section partners Lonnie Plaxico (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums) — Landrus adds tenor sax and C flute to his palette of woodwind colors, which here also includes his usual suspects baritone sax, bass clarinet, alto flute and bass flute. The 14 tracks on Just When You Think You Know are catchy, smartly arranged original compositions that provide fertile contexts for Landrus’ highly personal, expressive playing on all of these instruments. There’s a lot of heart and soul to be discovered in his composed lines and improvisations, all of them rooted in the type of raw emotions that arise when one breaks free of established norms, embraces the unexpected and confronts elements of uncertainty and surprise with openminded vulnerability. The same is true of Stryker, an essential contributor to this project who frequently double melodies with Landrus and takes several lyrical and sultry solos of his own. Landrus’ determination to roll with life’s sudden changes is also reflected in the spontaneity and in-the-moment interactions of his stellar quintet as they skillfully throw down a full gamut of stylistic variations from one track to the next. Bass clarinet plays an important role on several tunes, including the opener, “All In Time,” where a contemplative and meditative attitude dominates Landrus’ eloquent solo amid a chorus of overdubbed woodwinds, showcasing the textural beauty of his newly expanded instrumental array. His C flute makes an auspicious debut, helping to fill out the high end of the mini wind ensemble and playing prominent roles on pieces like the alluring bossa nova “Continuance,” the atmospheric groover “Under Dark” and the disco-funk flutter fest of the closer “Paroxysm.” His plays tenor on five tracks, including the swinging jazz-waltz title track, making the horn sing with the same extreme confidence and ease he’s displayed so consistently over the years on his other axes. Whether luxuriating on the mellow side or asserting himself with bluesy, authoritative boldness, his tone is robust in the tenor’s bottom tones and midrange, his high register reinforced with a mellow weightiness. Baritone sax, the axe for which Landrus is perhaps best known, takes the lead on the R&B groover “Untold Story,” the straightahead hard-bopper “One Year” and the modern bossa nova “Averse.” Deep personal emotions fuel the well-paced, thoughtfully developed and listener-accessible program of Just When You Think You Know, where Landrus, serious artist that he is, bears his intimate, unselfconscious love for each and every one of the woodwinds he’s mastered.
