(Baldhill Records)

Volume One, the debut from Brooklyn-based quintet Sketches is a work of contemplative, expertly executed music. The collective of accomplished sidemen produces each track through a collaborative approach that involved members bringing a piece or “sketch” of a song to rehearsal, with the group then building upon the initial idea. It’s a process that gives the music a sound that seems to be less set in stone and finished, but one, rather, that the listener hears evolving in the recording. Sketches, comprised of trumpeter Matt Holman, saxophonist Jeremy Udden, pianist Jarrett Cherner, bassist Martin Nevin and drummer Ziv Ravitz, is a dynamic band that truly captures the raw spirit of innovation that is central to jazz.