Composer and trumpeter jaimie branch died from an accidental overdose at age 39, just before this album was done and I mourn the loss of such a unique and compelling voice as though we were best friends.
But I am coming to her music late, Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) is her third album but the first I’ve spent real time with and I am drawn to its genre-less vibe that brings to mind my favorite kind of music, music that is restless and open to all manner of influence. There’s a super funk groove to ((world war)), a near manic energy that flirts with total abandon, a bruising kind of rawness that feels timeless and of the moment. Listening through ((world war)), I don’t think trumpet, I certainly don’t hear jazz, I just want to get up and move until I forget.
From the liner notes by the band:
“jaimie never had small ideas. She always thought big. The minute you told her she couldn’t do something, or that something would be too difficult to accomplish, the more determined and focused she became. And this album is big. Far bigger and more demanding — for us, and for you — than any other Fly or Die record. For this, jaimie wanted to play with longer forms, more modulations, more noise, more singing, and as always, grooves and melodies. She was a dynamic melodicist. jaimie wanted this album to be lush, grand and full of life, just as she was. Every time we take a listen, we feel the deep imprint of her all over the music, and we see all of us making it together.”
(world war)) is lush, grand and full of life and you should take it in like medicine.