Jaimie Branch is an American trumpet player from the Chicago improvised music community, currently living and working in New York. The artist, for more than ten years, recording and performing with such respected musicians as Tim Daisy, Ken Vandermark, Keefe Jackson and Jason Adasiewicz, has ran her own bands at the same time, including trio Sherpa and Princess, Princess, and formed a duet with Mark Riordan. In addition to being active on the jazz scene, she has been involved in projects related to other musical genres: from indie rock, through hip-hop, to electronics and noise. However, this long-awaited author's phonographic debut, an album released last year by National Anthem, brought her due critical acclaim. The Fly or Die album, recorded in a quartet with cellist Tomek Reid, double bass player Jason Ajemian and drummer Chad Taylor (with the guest participation of Matt Schneider, Ben Lamar Gay and Josh Berman), was named in the New York Times the most surprising debut of last year. The 35-minute suite shows not only the extraordinary improvisational skills of Jaimie Branch, but also her interest in the post-production of sound.
Jaimie Branch among her idols in one breath mentions trumpeters representing very different jazz styles, such as Booker Little, Miles Davis and Axel Dörner. Her musical adventure began with grunge and punk rock, and the interest in improvised music combined with solid education (Jaimie Branch is a graduate of New England Conservatory) and a fascination with free jazz has resulted in an original avant-garde style of playing, full of unrestrained expression.