Jalen Baker: RePaved
Cellar Music Group

In recent years, a new generation of vibraphonists has re-established the instrument as a vital part of the contemporary jazz scene. Sasha Berliner, Joel Ross, Simon Moullier, and Patricia Brennan are among those ensuring that Gary Burton, Bobby Hutcherson, and Milt Jackson aren't the only names that come to mind when the topic of great vibraphonists is raised. Add to that short list Jalen Baker, who on RePaved, his third album as a leader, proves that his name deserves very much to be part of that conversation. As this terrific suite-styled statement shows, Baker's articulated a vision of striking originality and imagination.

RePaved was recorded in January 2026 at GB's Juke Joint in Long Island City, Queens, but its subject matter locates us in Houston, Texas and specifically in the historic and gentrification-facing Black neighbourhoods of its 3rd, 4th, and 5th Wards. Sensitive to the possibility that their rich cultural and social legacies are in danger of being lost, Baker set out to document the area's history in musical form. The project's an extremely personal one, given that his family history's grounded in the 3rd Ward, and the content that's alluded to in the titles of its eight instrumentals invites those unfamiliar with the region to become better informed about it.

Consistent with the theme, many of the musicians joining Baker on the album are Houstonians. A striking line-up was convened to perform the material, with flutist Alexandria DeWalt, pianist Paul Cornish, bassist Gabriel Godoy, and drummer Gavin Moolchan rounding out the quintet and a string quartet (violinists Yoojin Park and Chiara Jamila, violist Tia Allen, cellist Reenat Pinchas) augmenting it beautifully. Another context might see the latter merely grafted onto the quintet; in Baker's case, the string quartet's integrated into the arrangements and, anything but stiff, swings as royally as the others. Inspired conceptually by ambitious works such as Wynton Marsalis's Black Codes From The Underground and Duke Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige, the vibraphonist aspired to add his own history-framed expression to theirs.

Musically, the material aligns itself to the album theme in both preserving and respecting the legacy of Baker's precursors but also in building upon it with music of vibrancy, affirmation, and purpose. The past is acknowledged directly in “Bemsha Blues,” a mashup of Ellington's “C-Jam Blues” and Monk's Bemsha Swing,” and the soulful, set-ending “Smile,” from Charlie Chaplin's 1936 classic Modern Times. The six pieces preceding them are Baker originals, which encompass a bounty of styles and moods. Solos are thoughtfully placed within the arrangements and reinforce the tone of a given piece. Consider, for instance, the swing of Baker's introductory solo in “Antioch (The Beginning),” and the way it amplifies the soulful character of the composition. Titled after the first Black baptist church that opened in Texas, the piece, warmed by organ and strings, makes for a tremendous scene-setter, ranging as it does between urgent episodes and relaxed reflections.

Having paid homage to the church, the subsequent “John Henry” does the same for its founder, John Henry “Jack” Yates, with a resplendent rubato outpouring. The onset of “Dowling/Emancipation” brings with it a stylistic shift to jazz-funk, the track accented with whoops and hand-claps and a thrusting pulse. Dovetailing with the album concept, the title references a 2017 street name change from “Dowling,” named after a Confederate officer, to “Emancipation,” a move embraced joyfully by residents of the 3rd Ward. Elsewhere, the warmth of the opening track re-emerges in “Freedman” when flute, vibes, and strings deliver an ebullient affirmation. The melancholy ballad statement “City On The Water” honours the strength and resilience the Houston community showed in recovering from the damage inflicted by Hurricane Harvey.

September 2026