Jaimie Branch ‘Fly or Die’ Record Release

Jaimie Branch Quartet with Tomeka Reid, Chad Taylor, Jason Ajemian, guests Matt Schneider, Ben LaMar Gay, Josh Berman — Record release / Wei Zhongle

Fly or Die features Jaimie Branch (trumpet), Tomeka Reid (cello), Jason Ajemian (bass), and Chad Taylor (drums), with cameos by Ben Lamar Gay (cornet), Josh Berman (cornet) and Matt Schneider (guitar).

A mainstay of the Chicago jazz scene and an active recent addition to the New York scene, Jaimie Branch is an avant-garde trumpeter known for her “ghostly sounds,” says The New York Times, and for “sucker punching” crowds straight from the jump off, says Time Out. Her classical training and “unique voice capable of transforming every ensemble of which she is a part” (Jazz Right Now) has contributed to a wide range of projects not only in jazz but also punk, noise, indie rock, electronic and hip-hop. Branch’s prolific as-of-yet underexposed work as a composer and a producer, as well as a sideman for the likes of William Parker, Matana Roberts, TV on the Radio and Spoon, is all on display in her debut record Fly or Die – a dynamic 35-minute ride that dares listeners to open their minds to music that knows no genre, no gender, no limits.