jaimie branch
FLY or DIE II: Bird Dogs of Paradise
Now Available
FLY or DIE II: Bird Dogs of Paradise
What people Are Saying
“Branch has lived in Brooklyn for years, but the legacies of Chicago’s improvised music scene, in which she came of age, course through everything she does.”
– Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times
“It’s a superb recording that seethes in its quiet moments and often reaches a bracing, full-throated roar.”
“…her murmuring but still impassioned voice complements her piercing, white-hot trumpet perfectly.”
“It sets one’s mind reeling to think about what hidden dimensions Branch might reveal next.”
“An angry and urgent dispatch from the US improvising underground.”
– The Wire
“…her dynamic vocal performance on the multipartite “Prayer for Amerikkka Pt. 1 & 2” is every bit as persuasive as her fearless and flexible horn playing.”
Announcing IARC0027: Jamie Branch - FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise
In stores October 11, 2019
Preview & pre-order on LP/CD/Digital via our Bandcamp page
FLY or DIE II: Bird Dogs of Paradise is the much-anticipated follow-up to composer, trumpeter, and (now) singer jaimie branch's debut Fly or Die, which was dubbed one of the “Best Albums of 2017” by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, NPR Music, WIRE, Stereogum, Aquarium Drunkard, and more. Written (mostly) while on her first European tour with Fly or Die in November 2018; and recorded (mostly) in studio at Total Refreshment Centre and live at Café OTO in London UK at the end of that tour, bird dogs of paradise is the result of a never-satisfied branch pushing her distinct style of progressive composition to new heights — while also stepping forward as a vocalist for the first time. “So much beauty lies in the abstract of instrumental music,” says branch in the album’s liner notes, “but being this ain’t a particularly beautiful time, I’ve chosen a more literal path. The voice is good for that.”
On the album’s epic opening opus “prayer for amerikkka pt.1 and 2” branch calls out “a bunch of wide-eyed racists” between searing trumpet ad libs atop a massive, down-tuned blues. On the album’s closing track “love song (for assholes & clowns)” she laughs in their faces - an unhinged, unflinching, mix of anger and humor paired with a classic shuffle beat. Between both ends is an instrumental chronicle that traverses a deep sea of dystopian Americana without trepidation. Her trumpet – sometimes soft and pleading and other times brash and seething – is always at the helm. Branch and company are on a quest for sonic saturation here and they conjure up moments of real reckoning - hopefulness, hopelessness, danger, and joy. A cinematic sojourn from our earth to imagined worlds above, bird dogs of paradise dares you to feel again, or as branch says, “now sound the trumpets and get ready to roll.”
Notes
Performed by
jaimie branch – trumpet, voice, synths, sneaker squeaks, bells & whistles
Lester St. Louis – cello, percussion
Jason Ajemian – double bass, percussion, vocals
Chad Taylor – drums, mbira, xylophone
With special guests
Ben LaMar Gay – voice (on track 2)
Marvin Tate – voice (on track 2)
Matt Schneider – 12-string guitar (on track 2)
Dan Bitney – percussion, synthesizer (on track 8)
Scott McNiece – egg (on track 8)
All compositions by jaimie branch;
except "birds of paradise," "whales," and "bird dogs of paradise" composed by jaimie branch, Lester St. Louis, Jason Ajemian & Chad Taylor; and "lesterlude" composed by Lester St. Louis.
Recorded mostly at Total Refreshment Centre (tracks 2-7 & 9) and Café OTO (tracks 1 & 8) in Dalston, London UK, November 20th – 25th 2018. Edits & overdubs at Dave’s house in Pilsen, Chicago, December 2018. Final dubs & mixing at Decade Studios in Old Town, Chicago, January 2019. Mastered at Chicago Mastering Service in Garfield Park, Chicago, March 2019.
Recorded by Dave Vettraino & David Allen
Recording Assisted by James Dunn & Kristian ‘Capitol K’ Robinson
Edited by jaimie branch & Dave Vettraino
Mixed by David Allen & Dave Vettraino
Mastered by Shelly Steffens
Cover Art by jaimie branch & John Herndon
Cover Design by Damon Locks & jaimie branch
Layout & Insert Design by Craig Hansen
Photography by Peter Gannushkin, Dawid Laskowski & Fabrice Bourgelle
Executive Production by Scott McNiece & David Allen
Released October 11, 2019
All rights reserved
About jaimie Branch
American avant-garde trumpeter Jaimie Branch is a forward-thinking performer with a style steeped in free jazz and modern creative improvisation. In addition to releasing her own albums, she is an in-demand session and touring musician in several genres. She has played with several bands including Bullet Hell, Galactic Unity Ensemble, Keefe Jackson's Project Project, and New Fracture Quartet, and has also appeared with Spoon, TV on the Radio, and Belle Orchestre. She began recording under her own name with 2017's acclaimed Fly or Die and followed it up with Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise two years later. (Matt Collar)