Jamie Baum Septet

Jamie Baum, Flutes Ralph Alessi, Trumpet/Flugelhorn Douglas Yates, Alto Saxophone/Bass Clarinet Chris Komer, French Horn George Colligan, Piano Johannes Weidenmueller, Bass Jeff Hirshfield, Drums

Somewhere between modern jazz and 20th Century/21st Century classical music leanings is where we find flutist, composer, arranger and bandleader Jamie Baum. During the course of her two-decade career, Baum has been involved with a myriad of ensembles – both as a leader and side person. This current Baum effort, a tremendously ambitious one, primarily performs the flutist’s original jazz compositions and arrangements as a septet.

Since she arrived on the scene in the early 1980s, Baum has impressed audiences, musicians and critics alike with her inventive, finely crafted compositions demonstrating a commanding and atypical approach to the flute as a lead instrument. Originally from Connecticut, Baum has been New York City-based for quite some time during which she has worked with and along side the full range of accomplished artists such as: Randy Brecker, John Abercrombie, Donald Brown, Kenny Werner, Fred Hersch, Kenny Barron, Tom Harrell, Dave Douglas and Billy Hart among others.

The flutist last appeared here in 2000, then working with Sharp Five, the all-female cooperative. She returns to celebrate Solice, her 2008 release. The new recording, which she and her septet will feature in concert, houses, among other entries, Baum’s commissioned “Creation and Presentation Award,” which is a component of the Doris Duke/Chamber Music America Jazz Ensembles Project entitled “The Ives Suite.”

Baum and her group, which features some of the most inventive musicians performing today, perform in Windsor Auditorium on the Stephens College campus in conjunction with “Women’s History Month.” In addition to her concert presentation, the flutist will also conduct ancillary educational activities.

• Artist's Website

"The new album is a septet outing that flaunts modern classical touches while stressing swing and improvisation. The flutist-composer likes to have her cake and eat it, too; her very capable crew is a group that makes this graceful music truly zing."
— Village Voice