Jalen Baker: This is Me, This is Us
Outside In Music

Hailing from Houston, Jalen Baker impresses as a vibraphonist, composer, and bandleader of preternatural poise on his debut collection. What he has accomplished on This Is Me, This Is Us is more in line with what one expects from an artist well into a career rather than on a first album. A graduate of Columbia College Chicago (BA in Jazz Studies) and Florida State University (MM in Jazz Studies), the Washington, DC-born vibraphonist has left his mark as an instrumental presence in and around Chicago, Georgia, Northern Florida, and, of course, Houston and now takes the next logical step with the recording.

Aided by the production acumen of drummer Ulysses Owens Jr., Baker's joined by trumpeter Giveton Gelin, pianist Paul Cornish, bassist Gabriel Godoy, and drummer Gavin Moolchan on the date, with extra sweetening provided by violinists Jessica McJunkins and Orlando Wells, violist Andrew Griffin, and cellist Susan Mandel. Flexing his muscles as a composer, the recording features nine Baker originals, with a short rendering of a Stevie Wonder classic for a coda.

As intimated by the title, the album orients itself thematically around Baker's life experiences, things such as disappointment, success, heartbreak, and struggle. However, the track titles “Don't Shoot” and “Obey/Disobey” speak directly to Black lives specifically in the experiences they've endured with the authorities and with respect to racism in general. Baker's vision isn't despairing, though: that other pieces are titled “Healing,” “Patience,” and “Faith” conveys hope and optimism for the future, and it's hardly insignificant he chose Wonder's “Love's in Need of Love Today” as the album closer. However much such sentiments originate out of personal experience, Baker's the first to acknowledge they're universally shared, hence the album title.

While such thematic material is a key dimension of the album, it's the music that ultimately resonates most powerfully. One of its more fascinating aspects has to do with the trajectory Baker determined, both in terms of arrangement and mood. As the album progresses, the full ensemble with which it begins gradually scales down to quartet and trio configurations before ending with an unaccompanied vibes performance. That evolution enhances the feeling of intimacy as the recording progresses, and the music similarly moves from urgent, robust statements early on to material that's soulful and even (in the best sense of the word) mellow. Baker's writing is strong, but considerable thought obviously was given to arrangement and flow.

The players bring Baker's compositions to vivid life. The rhythm section drives the material propulsively where warranted, with the pop of Moolchan's snare a recurring sound, and the strings enliven the performances too with their presence. Gelin proves a compelling and inventive front-line partner to Baker, whose shimmering expressions illuminate the album from start to finish. One might be reminded of The Modern Jazz Quartet and vibraphonist Milt Jackson during the vibes-and-strings intro of “So Help Me God,” but the piece thereafter brands itself as a Baker composition, full stop, as it works its way through multiple episodes until settling into a high-energy trailblazer. Godoy and Moolchan propel “Don't Shoot” with a lithe, locomotive drive that provides an irrepressible base for the others to emote against. As infectious is the lightly swinging groove the two deploy to inspire the leader in “Faith,” a trio performance that spotlights Baker's abilities as soloist and comper.

June 2021