The Jamie Baum Septet+ at Nublu

The Jamie Baum Septet+
Jamie Baum – flutes, spolen word
Jonathan Finlayson – trumpet, spoken word
Sam Sadigursky – alto sax/clarinet/bass clarinet
Chris Komer – French horn
Brad Shepik – guitar/singing bowls
Luis Perdomo – piano
Ricky Rodriguez – bass/electric bass
Jeff Hirshfield – drums
Guest Vocalists – Aubrey Johnson
The music by composer/flutist Jamie Baum, composed for her critically-acclaimed Jamie Baum Septet+ and guest vocalist, utilizes texts by women poets of various ages and ethnicity to illustrate the palpable, personal and communal experience of living in the time of Covid-19 (and simultaneous socio-political movement) and its abrupt transformation of our world. From her Hell’s Kitchen, NYC perspective (initially the US “epicenter” of Covid-19), Baum looked to other artistic platforms for hope, solace and inspiration. Examples include: “What Kind of Times Are These” by Adrienne Rich, “My Grandmother in the Stars” by Naomi Shihab Nye, “An Old Story” by Tracy K. Smith, “sorrow song” by Lucille Clifton, etc. These poems reflect and suggest, both symbolically and vividly, how we’d arrived at this moment in time, how we might manage during this time, and how we might hope to learn and emerge from the experience.