Just When You Think You Know Brian Landrus

• 1 All In Time 07:15
• 2 Continuance 05:57
• 3 Untold Story 04:57
• 4 One Year 07:36
• 5 Dear Fred 02:29
• 6 Averse 07:37
• 7 El Perro Sigma 07:33
• 8 Beyond 04:58
• 9 Trance 07:00
• 10 From The Night 03:35
• 11 Just When You Think You Know 06:12
• 12 Under Dark 04:49
• 13 Something Special 06:15
• 14 Paroxysm 03:16
• Total Runtime 01:19:29

Info for Just When You Think You Know

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Brian Landrus embraces the unexpected with stunning results on Just When You Think You Know

Out March 20, 2026 via BlueLand/Palmetto Records, the album features the low woodwind specialist expanding his instrumentation and stylistic diversity alongside his quintet with Zaccai Curtis, Dave Stryker, Lonnie Plaxico and Rudy Royston

“Brian Landrus is a major force on the modern jazz scene.” – Ed Enright, DownBeat

“Landrus displays formidable chops as both a composer… and a virtuoso.” – Matt R. Lohr, JazzTimes

"If the album suggests anything, it is that Landrus views jazz not as a fixed idiom but as a permeable framework, one capable of absorbing classical coloration, modal ambiguity and rhythmic hybridity without losing its core identity. The music respects the tradition’s past even as it refracts it through a contemporary prism. And in doing so, it confirms Landrus as a composer who understands that innovation often lies not in abandoning form, but in deepening it." (Thierry De Clemensat, Paris-Move)

Brian Landrus, baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute, bass flute
Dave Stryker, acoustic and electric guitar
Zaccai Curtis, piano, Fender Rhodes
Lonnie Plaxico, acoustic and electric bass
Rudy Royston, drums

Brian Landrus After 12 albums as a leader, multi-instrumentalist and composer Dr. Brian Landrus has become an internationally recognized low woodwind artist. Landrus specializes on the low woodwind family, specifically: baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, bass clarinet, contra alto clarinet, alto flute, and bass flute. As a composer, Landrus has written for solo instrument to symphony orchestra.

Landrus consistently places in the critics polls of the year in Downbeat Magazine and JazzTimes International Critics Polls. Landrus was awarded “Rising Star” in the 2021 for bass clarinet and 2015 for baritone. Landrus’ 2020 release For Now, was chosen as Editor’s Pick in both Downbeat and JazzTimes. Landrus’ 25-piece orchestral album Generations, was named one of the best recordings of the year by NPR, Downbeat Magazine, JazzTimes, All About Jazz, Jazziz, Boston Globe and many other international publications. The New York Times wrote “With Generations, Mr. Landrus takes the jazz big band tradition into the mesosphere.”

Landrus’ 2020 release, For Now, was released on BlueLand Records on May 15, 2020. For Now features: Brian Landrus-bari sax, bass clarinet, alto and c flutes, Fred Hersch-piano, Drew Gress-bass, Billy Hart-drums, Mike Rodriguez-trumpet, Sara Caswell-violin, Joyce Hammann-violin, Lois Martin-viola, and Jody Redhage-Ferber-cello. It was produced by Dr. Bob Aldridge and Herschel Garfein. It was recorded and mixed in NYC by Chris Allen and John Kilgore. For Now has already received over forty glowing reviews from international publications.

Based in Brooklyn, Landrus founded his label, BlueLand Records, in 2010. His first releases of all original music via BlueLand were Traverse (a quartet date with Lonnie Plaxico, Billy Hart and pianist Michael Cain) and Capsule (by the Brian Landrus Kaleidoscope, with Cain, guitarist Nir Felder, bassist Matthew Parish, drummer Rudy Royston). In 2013, Landrus released a second Kaleidoscope album, Mirage, featuring himself on baritone sax, bass sax, bass clarinet, contra alto clarinet and bass flute alongside Felder, Royston, Plaxico on acoustic and electric bass, Frank Carlberg on Rhodes/piano and a string quartet led by violinist Mark Feldman. The New York Times praised Landrus and Mirage at length, pointing out that “the tenderness in his playing feels as warm and accessible as his writing.” Landrus’ 2015 release, The Deep Below, features Landrus on baritone and bass saxophones, bass clarinet, and bass flute, with Lonnie Plaxico on bass, and Billy Hart on drums. Landrus was voted #1 Rising Star Baritonist in Downbeat Magazine’s 2015 Critics Poll and The Deep Below has been called “A star vehicle” by The New York Times.

Landrus has performed with some of the world’s great musicians including: Fred Hersch, Robert Livingston Aldridge, Herschel Garfein, Maria Schneider Orchestra, Esperanza Spalding, Feist, Ken Schaphorst Orchestra, Rakalam Bob Moses, Gil Evans Orchestra, George Garzone, The Temptations, The Drifters, Michael Cain, The Four Tops, Darcy James Argue, West Side Story-NYC Broadway, Guy & Dolls-NYC Broadway, Rufus Reid, The Coasters, Frank Carlberg, Ayn Inserto, Matt Wilson, The Beach Boys, Anat Cohen, David Ake, Jerry Bergonzi, Lonnie Plaxico, Billy Hart, Ralph Alessi, Jay Anderson, Uri Caine, Brad Shepik, Donny McCaslin, Harvie S, Scott Robinson, Bob Brookmeyer, Steve Wilson, Drew Gress, Peter Epstein, Roni Ben Hur, Victor Lewis, Jamie Baum, Justin Brown, Igmar Thomas, Ben Williams, Marc Cary, Mark Feldman, Joyce Hammann, Jody Redhage-Ferber, Sara Caswell, Frank Kimborough, Brian Lynch, Michael Rodriguez, Roscoe Mitchell, Robert Dick, Groundation, Conrad Herwig, Ravi Coltrane, Danilo Perez, Ben Monder, Matthew Parish, Nir Felder, Brandee Younger, Joe Locke, Darryl Harper, Alan Ferber, Mark Ferber, Lewis Nash, Greg Gisberg, Mark Whitfield, Martha Reeves, Chubby Checker, Bob Berg, Joey Defrancesco, Leo Genovese, Frank London, Gatemouth Brown, Jason Palmer, and many more.

This album contains no booklet.