F2K Ep. 43 - Trumpeter Jaimie Branch

Fun 2 Know Podcast

On today's show, with trumpeter and composer Jaimie Branch. I'd seen Jaimie's name in the credits of releases by bassist Jason Ajemian, in the large band of Keefe Jackson, with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and saxophonist Jarrett Gilmore but she didn't really capture my attention until her stunning debut with her band Fly or Die arrived on the International Anthem label in early 2017. This rock-solid quartet featuring former Fun 2 Know guest Tomeka Reid on cello, newly-minted Philadelphian Chad Taylor on drums and Jason Ajemian on bass provide a spacious landscape for the propulsive trumpet and compositions of Ms Branch, over a beautifully-paced record that pulls you through it like a great record should. Branch has collected plenty of accolades for the record, including winning Top Debut in the NPR 2017 Jazz Poll (she topped my ballot as well) Jaimie was listed in the June 2017 Rolling Stone as “10 New Artists You Need to Know” and the Village Voice called Branch “fearless” and described her album as “eerily beautiful.” Jaimie and her band Fly or Die rolled into town in late January, sharing a bill at The Rotunda on the University of Pennsylvania campus with improvisational group Sirius Juju. I'd hoped to get there early and interview Jaimie backstage but I've worked with enough band to know that traveling from town-to-town with five or six people is an inexact science so instead of having an hour to unwind into conversation we had about twenty minutes before the band downstairs began to dominate the scene with a wonderful set of music. This makes for a nice, concise episode of Fun 2 Know, where we enjoy a few cuts from Jaimie's “Fly or Die” debut, a snippet from her recordings with the trio Princess Princess, an previously undistributed date she was selling at the show as vinyl in a plain paper sleeve, plus hear Jaimie talk about how ten years of gigging has made her an “overnight sensation.”