& alto flute; Ralph Alessi, trumpet & Flugelhorn; Doug Yates,
alto sax & bass clar.; Tom Varnerk, Fr. Horn; George Colligan,
piano & elec. piano; Drew Gress, bass; Jeff Hirschfield, drums;
Yosuke Yamamoto, percussion on 2 tracks) – OmniTone 15206
****:
Flutist Baum has received allocades from DownBeat for her previous
recordings. She studied with Jaki Byard, Hubert Laws, Ransom
Wilson and Richie Beirach among others and is know for both being an
accomplished flutist and also her imaginative compositions. This album
was stimulated by a course at the Manhattan School Music she had taken
on Stravinsky and Bartok. Baum wanted to apply their compositional
techniques to different jazz formats. Stravinsky’s daring and
sophisticated writing works out great for some of these septet
selections.
For example, “Spring Rounds” borrows not only title but some of the
actual music from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Her work “Spring” uses
some fragments from the opening of The Rite of Spring. Baum was also
influenced by the playing of East Indian classical musicians who she
encountered on a recent trip to India. One of the longest works here –
Baum’s “Central Park” – was inspired by Charles Ives’ iconoclastic
“Central Park in the Dark,” and her “Bar Talk” partakes of musical
ideas from Bartok’s string quartets. Her lush and adventurous
musical improvisations may not be a mainstream jazz fan’s cup of tea
but they’re right up my tone road. Baum is part of a growing
acceptance presence of the flute in jazz – not only mainstream but also
Latin and Brazilian music.
Selections: All Roads Lead to You, Spring Rounds, In the Journey,
Clarity, From Scratch/Primordial Prelude; South Rim, Central Park, Bar
Talk, Spring, Rivington Street Blues [www.OmniTone.com]
– John Henry
