Coming off an ambitious big band record Generations, low reedist, flautist and composer Brian Landrus returns to the smaller ensemble but not without taking a piece of orchestra with him. The next, new album For Now meets halfway between the nimbleness of a quartet or quintet and grandeur of an orchestra by adapting urbane Landrus pieces and a few standards with the help of a string quartet.
The pieces are certainly in place: For Now has a baseline quartet of Landrus with Fred Hersch (piano), Drew Gress (bass) and Billy Hart (drums), which is about as start-studded as it gets for modern jazz. But Landrus is having it both ways by injecting some new blood with the trumpet talent Michael Rodriguez and the string quartet comprising of Sara Caswell (violin), Joyce Hamman (violin), Lois Martin (viola) and Jody Redhage-Ferber (cello). Mixing and matching these combinations has increased the latitude available to Landrus in how his songs are presented.
Partnering on the string arrangements with co-producer and esteemed opera composer Robert Aldridge, those tracks successfully combine the formal majesty of chamber music and the life-affirming swing of a reed-led small ensemble much as Stan Getz’s Focus — a Landrus inspiration — did about sixty years ago.
Hersch alone introduces “Clarity In Time” with his usual grace before the string quartet takes over with Landrus making buttered expressions over the whole balletic proceedings. The elegant waltz “The Miss” also starts off in the same manner as “Clarity” but this time Rodriguez pairs up with Landrus to double the horn footprint. “Her Smile” is another swinging number by the quintet + strings but this time the strings aren’t just there as accoutrements, they are playing parts of the melody. And Caswell steps out in front to deliver a fittingly supple violin solo.
In their own, confident non-showy ways, Landrus and his small combo do things big and small to elevate these songs. Rodriguez brandishes fault-free tone and diction on the swinging “The Signs,” and Landrus’s baritone sax is uncommonly lithe and sweet. “JJ” is a quintet setting; hone in on Gress and you’ll find him artfully placing his bass notes around the melody, adding lift to Landrus’s and Rodriguez’s solos. “Invitation” is buttressed by strings but it’s hard to deny the rock-solid swing of Hart and Gress, which Hersch mines for all its worth with his solo spotlight.
Landrus brings the same gentle equanimity to the bass clarinet as he does for the baritone saxophone; witness his silky, flowing fluency on the too-brief “For Now.” He also brings an ample amount of liquid nimbleness to the instrument, best demonstrated on his solo recital of “‘Round Midnight.” “Ruby, My Dear” is the other Monk cover, made special in that it’s Landrus on baritone accompanied by only Hersch, and it’s played with all the tenderness and intimacy you’d expect from elite jazz musicians.
Brian Landrus can do it all like a boss: compose, arrange, plays reeds and confidently lead a group of big dogs. His tenth album is all the proof you need of that.
For Now is going on sale May 15, 2020 from BlueLand Records.
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