js “Shadow of a Soul” is the fourth album by composer David Bloom, and just like on his three previous albums, he has enlisted Cliff Colnot to provide arrangements. These two make quite a team, its hard to put an exact genre on their work, big band arranging is the closest you can get, but this is much more than just that. The ensembles on “Shadow” range from big bands to smaller groups with very unique instrumental groupings. Every single piece on here has its own ensemble and tone colors, and the musical influences range from contemporary jazz to art pop and soundtracks, as well as impressionistic classical music. Most of the pieces are fairly short, never much longer than five minutes, with some being only a minute or two which gives the album an appealing library music type effect. Brevity is a rare thing in the world of jazz.

Latin rhythms play a big part on some of the best tracks. “For Eddie P” features Afro-Cuban rhythms in a tribute to Eddie Palmieri, and pianist Ryan Cohan does a great job of channeling Eddie’s fierce and dissonant piano barrages. Ryan is also featured on other tracks as well. Some other Latin tracks feature the saxophone work of Mike Smith and the bright high end trumpet work of Victor Garcia. Besides the Latin numbers, you also get tone poems that recall the pastoral work of Gil Evans and Marie Schneider. Alto flutes are often featured in the melodies, delivering their signature smooth sound.

Bloom lists Wayne Shorter as a major compositional influence, and album opener “Mischievous Mark Colby”, could pass as a Shorter piece, particularly when Dave Liebman delivers an imaginative soprano sax solo. Dave also appears on the album’s title track as well. You could call much of this album ‘big band’ music, but ultimately this is contemporary instrumental music that draws on many influences and sound colors.