Jim Baker

No, not Jim Bakker. This one isn’t a disgraced televangelist, but a keyboardist whose intriguing new album comes courtesy of Delmark, a Chicago firm that’s among today’s most underappreciated indies.

Although Delmark also puts out modern blues CDs and classic reissues, the imprint’s at its best when keeping the spirit of avant-garde jazz alive via the likes of Questions. The album’s title is apt because, for Baker, reaching a particular destination is secondary to exploring the route. Throughout songs such as “Watching the Interstate,” he gently prods, pushes and probes into the musical unknown. The results are quietly fascinating.

Chicago Luzern Exchange’s Several Lights, another of the label’s new releases, takes improvisation in an equally fascinating direction; the quartet’s members use tuba, cornet, tenor sax and drums to make a joyously eccentric noise. Jim Bakker might not approve, but for these discs and others, Delmark deserves plenty of praise.