FLY OR DIE
~ LIVE ~
USA and EUROPE

Things are happening! jaimie branch and her ace quartet (aka FLY or DIE with Lester St. Louis, Jason Ajemian & Chad Taylor) are about to embark on a run of shows across the US and Europe!

First stop is the legendary Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis MN,
this Friday July 2nd.
Tickets here!

Then the band comes home to Chicago IL for a hit at Constellation,
this Saturday July 3rd.
Tickets here!

Then they celebrate 25 years of the Vision Festival with Arts for Art in Brookyln NY at Pioneer Works,
on Friday July 30th.
Tickets here!

Then they cross the ocean for a run of shows in EU:

July 8th
Braga Portugal @ GNReation
Tickets here!

July 9th
Dudelange Luxembourg @ Opderschmelz
Tickets here!

July 10th
Warszaw Poland @ Klub Stodola
Tickets here!

July 12th
Paris France @ New Morning
Tickets here!

July 13th
Oostende Belgium @ KAAP
Tickets here!

July 14th
Zurich Switzerland @ Moods
Tickets here!:

July 16th
Cerkno Slovenia @ Jazz Cerkno festival
Tickets here!

stay tuned to jaimie's website
for details and updates on all her shows!

FLIEG ODER STIRB

Some really wonderful nuggets of press have come through since FLY or DIE LIVE was announced, including this mondo full-page feature in Germany's DIE ZEIT. Writer Ulrich Stock says:

"Sie spielt hell und schnell, sie mag die volle Trompete. Das verhalten Verhallende, wie Miles Davis es so hintupfen konnte, ja, gibt’s schon auch, doch andererseits mexikanisch anmutende Mariachi-Fanfaren, südafrikanische Township-Wendungen, new-orleansiges Strahlen, rhythmisch enggeführte Melodie-Stakkati ... Ihr Spiel auf den einen Punkt zu bringen fällt schwer. Mal weitmaschig, mal schmissig klingen ihre Kompositionen, immer gegenwärtig, vielleicht auch, weil ihre Band fähig ist, die Skizzen farbig auszumalen. Und der Sound, es ist auch der Sound."

Read the whole piece in DIE ZEIT here.

Also in WBGO's Checkout, the great Nate Chinen said:

"Trumpeter Jaimie Branch raised many fists (and, one assumes, a few hackles) with "prayer for amerikkka pt. 1 & 2"... Taking aim at racist demagoguery in American politics and society, it's a diatribe as unambiguously direct as a slap to the face. Meaningfully, it was recorded on a European tour, as Branch skeptically viewed her country from abroad."

Checkout Nate's full playlist on WBGO here.

And hometown hero Bill Meyer spit some hot fire in the Chicago Reader:

"Her trumpeting sounds equally capable of starting fires, jumping like lightning among intricate rhythmic figures, electronically magnified growls, and stark, dramatic statements. Fly or Die were already blowing space junk out of their path before COVID-19 grounded them; who knows how much higher the combo will soar as the world opens back up?"

Read the rest here.

IARC0041
jaimie branch
FLY or DIE LIVE

Digital album out now.
2xLP & 2xCD out July 31st in USA & Canada
2xLP & 2xCD estimated August 27th for UK & EU

preview & pre-order 2xLP or 2xCD
via our Bandcamp page TODAY

"It's not always time to be neutral."

There is a moment near the top of jaimie branch’s FLY or DIE LIVE, the new album recorded by the trumpeter’s quartet in Zurich, Switzerland on January 23rd, 2020, which feels like it bears the weight of both that specific pocket of time, and a prophecy for all that was soon to come. branch and her Fly or Die crew — cellist Lester St. Louis, bassist Jason Ajemian, and drummer Chad Taylor — had just kicked off the concert at Moods, with the opening tracks off their then-new studio album FLY or DIE II: Bird Dogs of Paradise, the second of which, “Prayer for Amerikkka” is among the best political songs written during the Tr*mp Era, and when the moment in question pops off.

A week into a European tour and after three months of constant live performance, Fly or Die is at home in the music’s contours, messing with its internal machinery while guiding its meaning. By now, “Prayer” had gained a tough spoken-word intro, bringing the context as it slowly gearshifts the intensity: “It’s a song about America,” off-the-cuffs branch while the band seethes behind her, “but it’s about a whole lotta places — ‘cause it’s not just America where shit’s fucked up...” Then arrives the climax, at once site-specific and far-reaching: “...and it’s not always time to be neutral, do you know what I mean?” The gathered Swiss crowd knows, understands, and responds vocally, as Taylor’s backbeats cue branch to bring the trumpet to her lips, and let out a high-pitched wail. Her horn doesn’t know what’s about to happen to our world, and yet, somehow, it does — with only the catastrophic details needing to be worked out. “This is a warning, honey…” cries the song, and over the ensuing 70 minutes, the band echoes its sentiment, filled with glee and terror.

“I didn't have a memory of the show being an amazing show,” branch says. “But sometimes when you have zero memory of it being good or bad, those are the best shows. Because when you're in the zone, in those moments of channeling creativity, there isn't time for judgment. So oftentimes a memory is not created around that judgment, and that's actually a good indication.” When branch listened back to the Moods recording for the first time, she was unequivocal: “I think this is like the best that we've ever played.”

Read the album's full story, in the words of writer Piotr Orlov, here.

*Deluxe Double LP Vinyl Package*

FLY or DIE LIVE comes on two 160-gram vinyl LPs (pressed by Smashed Plastic in Chicago) inside a deluxe spot-glossed gatefold jacket with IARC obi strip, insert sheet, and dome-patterned inner-sleeve..

Order a copy via our Bandcamp page today!

Distribution via RedEye for
US, Canada, North & South America

This album will also be available on 2xCD and, for independent retailers only, worldwide, an indie exclusive limited edition color vinyl variant (same specs as above, just different color wax).

The North American retail street date for the 2xLP and 2xCD editions of FLY or DIE LIVE is TBC. Currently we are expecting will be July 31st 2021.

Retailers in the United States or Canada, or anywhere else inside of North, South and Central America... Please reach out to your sales rep at RedEye Worldwide if you are interested in making wholesale purchases of this album, or any other album in our catalog. Don't yet have a RedEye rep? Please just reach out to us and we'll get you hooked up!

Distribution via !K7 for
Europe, UK, Japan, Australia, and ROW

On all the same formats mentioned above, this album will be distributed by our good friends at !K7 and their various territory partners in Europe, UK, Japan, Australia, Asia, and everywhere else in the world outside of North & South America.

The retail street date everywhere outside of North America for the 2xLP and 2xCD editions is currently estimated for August 27th 2021.

If you are a retailer or store with questions about wholesale or are just looking to get some of our records... we'd like to make things as easy for you as possible, please do not hesitate to reach out!!!