Poetry In Motion

Novelist Wendall Berry had a peculiar way of unpacking his worldview.
Berry’s gift was crafting stories that meandered through topics he meditated on throughout his life. Philosophy, education, religion, farming and the environment often co-existed within poems, essays or his various novels. For readers this intellectual galaxy meant entertaining numerous ideas while surfing the curious analytical orbits of this elite critical thinker.

Jamie Baum’s music has a lot in common with Berry’s prose. Compositions float atop fascinating intellectual frameworks, alternative instrumentation, spoken word poetry and genres not traditionally associated with Jazz. Songs can include trap doors, hidden panels or sharp left turns that are all part of the circumference to Baum’s unique creative curiosity.

Septet+, the ambitiou ensemble Baum has led since 1999, has been the foundation for several superb recordings that act on the ideas, issues and musical philosophies central to her career. Albums like In This Life, Bridges and What Times Are These, pursue intellectual realms that would make Berry smile. Unpacking natural disasters, sacred religious traditions, COVID 19, and poetry’s influence on society are all fair game for Baum’s musical explorations.

All of this makes for deep listening, music that entertains, enlightens and entices the senses with an array of musical strategies that can simultaneously adhere to and challenge traditional compositional approaches to Jazz. And like Berry, Baum will keep you coming back for more, putting the needle back on songs to help unpack layers of sounds that can range from pensive to playful in a flip of a measure.