Jamie Baum: Moving Forward, Standing Still

The assembled group consists of state-of-the-art New York players like trumpeter Ralph Alessi, reedman Doug Yates, French horn player Tom Varner, in-demand pianist George Colligan, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Jeff Hirshfield. Percussionist Tosuke Yamamoto is added on two tracks. The opening track, "All Roads Lead to You," is a stunning seven-minute number that is a complex multi-layered blending of "The Rite of Spring" and a reference to John Coltrane's "Naima." The bracing effect of the song is added with Doug Yates' early '60s Ornette-ish solo on alto sax at the five minute mark. Alessi impresses on trumpet and flugelhorn throughout this album. Colligan, known primarily as a post bop pianist, here adds Fender Rhodes on several occasions to the mix. Jamie Baum's flute and alto flute work is quite evident, but by no means is she a primarily soloist. The album is more of a team effort of the individual players.

Moving Forward, Standing Still cannot be summarized easily and the complexities of the writing and presentation almost require multiple listenings in order to grasp what lies beneath.

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