Jaimie Branch: Fly Or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))

Editor's Choice

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Jaimie Branch (t, v, ky, perc, Happy Apple)
Akenya Seymour (v)
Chad Taylor (d, perc, mbira, mba)
Lester St Louis (clo, f, mba, ky, v)
Rob Frye (f, bcl)
Daniel Villarreal (perc, cga)
Jason Ajemian (b, el b, v, mba)
Nick Broste (tb)
Kuma Dog (v)

Label:

International Anthem Records

October/2023

Media Format:

CD, LP, DL

Catalogue Number:

IARC66

RecordDate:

Rec. 25-29 April 2022

Jaimie Branch’s untimely and tragic death last year robbed jazz of one of its most singular – and promising – talents. It’s therefore difficult not to approach this posthumous album – recorded four months before her passing and completed by her long-standing Fly or Die band and her sister Kate – with a sense of sadness and trepidation, and also regret for what more might have come.

But that's not quite the case here, because this album is a superb addition to a small but brilliant legacy: as a final statement, they don't come much better than this. It's a glorious listen, rather than the melancholy one I expected. Branch was fond of saying that playing the trumpet was akin to "singing your soul" and that is certainly the case here, as ((world war)) contains some of her best-ever playing: fierce, free, expressive and uniquely Branchian. The writing is her best-ever too.

((world war)) is as electrifying as the group’s first three [two studio, one live] LPs, but comes with a wider sonic palette and heightened ambition. The Taylor-St Louis-Ajemian FoD core unit is there, locked in tighter than ever, but synths, exotic percussion, guest horn players and extra vocalists add real richness to the mix. There's also a much heavier feel than on previous outings and Branch's singing – at times weirdly reminiscent of Patty Waters' – takes the spotlight almost as much as her trumpet.

The nine-minute centerpiece ‘baba louie’ starts out as an eclectic stew of Caribbean carnival rhythm and South African-inflected horns, introduces marimba and flute, morphs into an anthemic trumpet solo section, and finally jumps into a dubby groove. Another nine-minute epic, ‘burning grey’, is an impassioned call for vigilance atop a frantic, steamhammering rhythm; and on ‘the mountain’, Branch and Ajemian create a wonderful two-voices-and-bass take on the Meat Puppets’ country-punk classic ‘Comin’ Down’,

On the closer, ‘world war ((reprise))’, she jangles a 1970s Fisher-Price musical toy (the Happy Apple mentioned in the credits) and entreats in an even, intimate tone: "Publicise, televise, capitalise on revolution’s eyes/What the world could be/If only you could see/Their wings are false flags/On our wings, they all rise". It's a message of hope as much as a warning from an artist (and a band) at the top of her game. A remarkable testament.

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