Jazz pianist Sam Baum (upper left) poses for a portrait with his band in Fall, 2025
NEW YORK CITY: From My Shiny Imagination: Music by Sam Baum is the forthcoming album by the 34 year-old autistic pianist and composer Sam Baum, who discovered jazz piano and improvisation when he was 13. Since them it has become his way of joyfully communicating with the world. Music is Sam’s language, and he shares his gifts through his recordings and compositions, and in live concerts.
On June 18th, Sam brings together renowned musicians Bobby Sanabria, David Amram, Dan Block and Ciara Moser with his SAM ensemble in recognition of Disability Pride Day, which celebrates the neurodiversity, culture, and positive contributions of autistic individuals, focusing on acceptance rather than awareness. The SAM ensemble (Special Audiences and Musicians) is comprised of accomplished musicians who are either autistic, blind or have another physical disability. SAM is also the name of the non profit which Sam’s father, Jeff Nussbaum, founded to advocate for musicians with disabilities, secure paying gigs for them, fund recordings, and bring their live shows to underserved audiences.
Sam’s new album, which is his third, was released in conjunction with World Autism Awareness Day, on April 3, 2026, and was recorded at Old Soul Studio in Catskill, New York. The album presents a complete program of Baum’s original compositions.
The recording is closely connected to Special Audiences and Musicians (SAM), the New York–based nonprofit organization founded in 2017 by trumpeter and educator Jeffrey Nussbaum, Baum’s father, and dedicated to supporting jazz musicians with disabilities. Through SAM, Nussbaum has built working jazz ensembles and presented performances in hospitals, senior centers, schools, residences for blind adults, and union venues across New York City and the surrounding region. Musicians are engaged on a paid, professional basis, with many performances contracted through the American Federation of Musicians’ Local 802.
Let’s discover the newest New York jazz!