Jamie Baum Quartet

New York-based flautist Jamie Baum has wowed us twice—once as our first post-pandemic performer—with her flagship Septet+, a midsize ensemble with a boundless vision and an outsize reputation. Last year that band celebrated its 25th anniversary with a new album, What Times Are These, that garnered extravagant praise from all over: the UK’s Jazzwise called it “one of the most powerful things you’ll hear this year,” PopMatters “a revelation,” Paris-Move “indispensable.” Journalist Bill Moyers pronounced it “a masterpiece of sound and spirit.” And in DownBeat, legendary Scottish jazz writer Brian Morton gave it a coveted five-star review, declaring: “It’s past time that Baum was elevated from the ‘other instruments’ ranks”—where she’s a perennial placer in the critics’ polls—“and recognized as an important composer/leader.”

But it’s not only with the Septet+ that Baum “reaffirms her position as a first-rate composer with a vast imagination” (All About Jazz): over the course of her career as…