" data-original-title="" title="">Christopher Zuar's second album, Exuberance, recounts in musical terms a twisting yet picturesque journey that began seven years earlier, in 2017, when Zuar first met his now-wife, the animator Anne Beal, at MacDowell, the famed artists' residency in New Hampshire. While the relationship "blooms" in winter, there are "moments between" and other inescapable detours until "certainty" erases any lingering doubts, "exuberance" carries the day and Zuar and Beal are united as one.

Yes, the music is thematic, but as in many such cases, that becomes more or less irrelevant once Zuar's stellar 18-piece orchestra (and invited guests) delve into his sleek and luxuriant compositions and arrangements. What emerges is simply impressive contemporary jazz that happens to reprise a narrative. Zuar uses a diverse array of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic accessories to reach his goals, one of which is to touch his listeners and command their wholehearted receptivity to and immersion in what is basically a personal odyssey of discovery and revision.

To do so, Zuar invites his audience to share the experience as "In Winter Blooms," enriching its alluring terrain with thoughtful solos by bassist