Jalen Baker: RePaved

RePaved, vibraphonist and composer Jalen Baker's third album as leader of his own ensemble, is an eight-part suite that depicts in musical terms the history of Houston, Texas' historic Black neighborhoods and his family's deep connection to the city's Third Ward, which spans four generations.

As is usually true of thematic music, that becomes largely irrelevant once it begins. What is of more than passing interest is that Baker composed the suite's first half-dozen movements, while the seventh ("Bemsha Blues") is credited to Thelonious Monk ("Bemsha Swing") and Duke Ellington ("C-Jam Blues"), the eighth and last ("Smile") to silent film star Charlie Chaplin, who was also an admirable songwriter. Although their connection to Houston is nebulous, they do serve to underline Baker's skills as an arranger.

The leader's core quintet is amplified on his compositions by a string quartet, which is absent on the last two numbers. The strings offer a well-bred veneer that is in keeping with Baker's essential purpose, which is to paint graphic word-pictures of his home base in Houston.

The music is less concerned with igniting fireworks than fueling the sturdy, well-designed solos of Baker, pianist Paul Cornish, bassist Gabriel Godoy ("Freedman") and flautist Alexandria DeWalt ("City on the Water"). Drummer Gavin Moolchan does not solo but helps Godoy keep splendid time. That is especially meaningful on "Bemsha Blues," a charismatic burner wherein everyone plants his best foot forward.

The same holds true, albeit to a lesser extent, elsewhere, from the opening "Antioch" to the lyrical "Kashmere" and everything in between: "John Henry," "Dowling/Emancipation," "Freedman" and "City on the Water" (the last a reference to Houston's epic battle with and recovery from Hurricane Harvey in 2017).

In sum, Baker and his teammates have smoothly RePaved Houston's venerable Third Ward, an area whose brand new look is well worth noting and admiring.