As a tribute to his current home and the beauty of the marimba, Jason Baker’s first solo album features five new works by composers across Mississippi. Although marimba is the focus, All Saints has a few pieces with additional instrumentation included, constantly highlighting the marimba. The album features a variety of styles, helping to create a connection from start to finish that keeps the listener engaged. All Saints is a diverse collection of pieces that is well composed, nicely recorded, and beautifully performed. The title track, “All Saints” by Paul Heindl, is one of my favorites. A patient solo, the piece begins with individual lines, chords, and space. This develops into slowly repeating permutations that evolve into a melody. Baker’s performance brilliantly captures the resonance and delicate possibilities of the instrument while also shaping each phrase into long, lyrical lines. On the following track, “McKenzie River Ferns” by Shandy Phillips, Baker demonstrates his versatility and that of the instrument with a more rhythmically driven solo that is equally entertaining. The following track, “Framing Silence” by Warren Ertle, is similar to the title track in feel, but with a slightly different approach to the resonance of the instrument. Baker spent five years commissioning these works from various Mississippians, and this time was well spent to add these works to the current percussion repertoire. Whether it is the brief two-minute “Nocturnal Dance” by Mississippi State University student Carlos Kemp, Jr. or the fully arranged “Concertpiece for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble” by Clifton Taylor, All Saints presents new music for marimba in an enjoyable package. Often, marimba recordings are vain attempts at outplaying others on the instrument using repertoire they composed; but Jason Baker takes the focus off himself and shines it on the living composers in his state while demonstrating a command of the marimba and delivering a beautiful, sweet, and introspective album.