“Baum (is) into tone color and timbre and the blending of languages… she’s got an elegantly persuasive composing hand, and her composing ideas have gotten particularly strong.”
— Ben Ratliff, New York Times

“The Septet+ was clearly a remarkable group of special shape and sound. It was a stroke of luck that the programmers of the (North Sea Jazz) Festival recognized the extraordinary quality of the ensemble.”
— Henning Bolte, AllAboutJazz.com

“The Septet+ roars out of the opening gate… blistering… (while) Baum effortlessly blends eight voices into an orchestra that feels unstoppable at times.”
— Sean J. O’Connell, DownBeat

“Baum premiered new music replete with crisscrossing odd meters, unusual ensemble phrases, challenging structures…that produced wonderful solos…exhilarating…fresh music that opened new paths of improvisation and soloing possibilities for her tightly knit, extremely well-tuned Septet+…Baum writes for musicians and music lovers, compositions based in the past but not beholden to it, performed by musicians girded for exploration and challenge.”
– Ken Micallef, Downbeat, March 2022 (review from Dizzy’s Club – Jazz at Lincoln Center 2/28/22)

“Jamie Baum’s ambitious arrangements captivated the audience with a first-class band of eight, comprising some of the finest NY-based musicians”
– Pascal Dorban, Jazz Journal (UK), Tampere Jazz Happening 2018

“The biggest surprise of the events of Sep. 22 was a name new to me, Jamie Baum, a diminutive flute player whose imagination is as big as the world. It was the most extraordinary music of the festival…”
 Richard S. Ginell, Journal of Music Critics Assoc. Monterey Jazz Festival 2018

“(Of) my top five quick takes: Flutist Jamie Baum’s Septet+ provided another revelation. An exploratory composer and arranger interested in long forms and arresting voicings…”
 Andrew Gilbert, SFVC,  Monterey Jazz Festival 2018

The Jamie Baum Septet+

History

The Jamie Baum Septet was formed in ’99 and has been Baum’s compositional muse ever since.

Having specific players to write for is a bandleader/composer’s dream and offers an incredible opportunity for experimentation and growth, as has certainly been the case with this band. Allowing Baum the opportunity to perform her compositions and arrangements/orchestrations with the colors and textures of this instrumentation has offered unique, exciting and endless possibilities. As Baum states, “I’m fortunate to get to play with such great players who can play anything…I can really let my imagination fly.”

Until 2010 the band included Ralph Alessi, Doug Yates, Tom Varner replaced by Chris Komer in ‘08, George Colligan, Jeff Hirshfield and Drew Gress replaced by Johannes Weidenmueller in ’07. Early years with regular NYC gigs at the Knitting Factory, Cornelia St. Cafe, etc. allowed the Septet to develop a cohesive, distinctive sound and personality, leading to higher profile dates (i.e., Jazz Standard, Joe’s Pub, the JVC Festival, Flynn Theater (VT), Rochester Jazz Festival, Painted Bride (PA), Walton Arts (AK), Outpost (NM)) and European tours and festivals.

They recorded Moving Forward, Standing Still (’04, OmniTone), featuring music inspired by Stravinsky and Bartok which received 4 stars in DownBeat and made several “Best CDs of ‘04” lists. Solace (‘08, Sunnyside), included an ‘03 CMA New Works commission featuring music influenced by Charles Ives. and a ’07 CMA Encore grant enabled them to perform this music on a mid-west tour and at NYC’s Merkin Concert Hall.

Changes in Direction

After several tours to South Asia, Baum’s musical direction took a departure in 2010 reflecting those experiences. This precipitated personnel changes and an expansion of the band to reflect this new direction, hence The Jamie Baum Septet+. Adding the perfect dimension were Brad Shepik and Amir ElSaffar, who while rooted in jazz, both had extensive experience with non-western music traditions and exploring ways to personalize those elements. Zack Lober and John Escreet’s modern harmonic approach and rhythmic flexibility offered a great balance. Dan Weiss’ study of Indian music, the tabla and modern jazz made him the perfect guest on their subsequent release, In This Life (Sunnyside, ’13). Reviews in NYTimes, DownBeat, etc., features on NPR’s All Things Considered, WBGO, several “Best CDs” lists (ITunes, DownBeat, NPR Jazz Critics Poll) brought performances at the Jazz Standard, Jazz Gallery, Winter Jazzfest, Sedutirol (Italy), North Sea Jazz Festival, Kennedy Center, Roulette, etc. and a nomination for Best Midsize Ensemble of 2014 by The Jazz Journalists Association – on a list with only two other bands: The Wayne Shorter Quartet and Steve Coleman and Five Elements.

Current News

Ms. Baum, along with only two other jazz/improvised music composers, Steve Coleman and Elliot Sharpe, received the prestigious 2014 Guggenheim Fellowship Award to compose new music for this band. This new music, along with a commission form The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art to honor Nepal, has recently been recorded for their new CD, Bridges, released in May, 2018 on Sunnyside Records. What followed were appearances at WBGO’s “The Checkout”, NYC’s Winter Jazzfest, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Tampere Jazz Happening, Jazztopad (Poland), London Jazz Festival, Madrid, Bimhuis, Unterfahrt, Roulette, Redwood Jazz Alliance, etc., and being voted #4 in the short list for “Best New Release” in the 2018 JazzTimes Readers Poll (just after Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea) and appearing on many other year-end lists.

★★★★ “Always a traveler, never a tourist, Baum constructs significant harmonic relationships between jazz and some far-flung music traditions. Everything connects here: concept and execution, soloists and ensemble, Nepal and New York, spirit and flesh.”
–Michelle Mercer, DownBeat

“ …a fine album of ambitious range and sharp melodic clarity. It’s part of her continuing experiment with blending hypercontemporary jazz strategies and traditional music from the South Asian subcontinent.”
Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times

The Jamie Baum Septet+

Jamie Baum – flutes
Amir ElSaffar – trumpet
Sam Sadigursky – alto sax/b. clarinet
Chris Komer – French horn
Brad Shepik – guitar
John Escreet – piano
Zack Lober – bass
Jeff Hirshfield – drums