Jaimie Breezy Branch (June 17, 1983 – August 22, 2022) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.

Biography

Branch was born in

Huntington, New York The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. ...

, on June 17, 1983. She started playing trumpet at age nine. At age 14, she moved to

Wilmette Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...

, a suburb of Chicago. She attended the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music Music school, conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The ...

. After graduating, Branch moved back to Chicago, working as a musician, organizer, and sound engineer on the local music scene, including with Jason Ajemian (on ''The Art of Dying'', 2006), Keefe Jackson's Project Project (on ''Just Like This'', 2007), Tim Daisy's New Fracture Quartet (on ''1000 Lights'', 2008), Anton Hatwich, and

Ken Vandermark Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered composi ...

. She performed in Chicago and New York with her trio Princess, Princess, with bassist Toby Summerfield and drummer Frank Rosaly, in trios with Tim Daisy and Daniel Levin, Matt Schneider, and

Jason Adasiewicz Jason Adasiewicz (born October 14, 1977) is an American jazz vibraphonist and composer. Early life and education Jason was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1977, but raised in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

, and with Chris Velkommen and Sam Weinberg. Together with Jason Stein,

Jeb Bishop Jeb Bishop (born 1962) is an American jazz trombone player. He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended Jesse O. Sanderson High School. He has studied music (classical trombone performance) at Northwestern University, engineering and ...

, and Jason Roebke, she founded the band Block and Tackle. She played on five albums between 2006 and 2008.Herren, Tom. ''

The Jazz Discography ''The Jazz Discography'' is a print, CD-ROM, and online discography and sessionography of all categories of recorded jazz — and directly relevant precursors of recorded jazz from 1896. The publisher, Lord Music Reference Inc., a British Columbia ...

'' online (retrieved July 18, 2016) In 2012 Branch moved to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, where she worked toward a master's degree in Jazz performance from

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

. At this time she also founded the record label Pionic Records, which released the music of her group Bomb Shelter. After two years, she dropped out of Towson, and six months later she moved to New York to seek treatment for heroin addiction. In the spring of 2015 Branch moved to Brooklyn, where she began working with

Fred Lonberg-Holm Fred Lonberg-Holm (born 1 October 1962) is an American cellist based in Chicago. He moved from New York City to Chicago in 1995. Lonberg-Holm is most identified with playing free improvisation and free jazz. He is also a composer of concert wor ...

, Mike Pride,

Luke Stewart Luke Stewart is a retired American people, American mixed martial artist. Holding a professional record of 6–3, Stewart competed in the now-defunct promotion Strikeforce (mixed martial arts), Strikeforce for his entire career. Background Luke ...

, Jason Nazary, Tcheser Holmes, and many more. In addition, she performed on albums with the independent rock groups Never Enough Hope,

Local H Local H is an American rock band originally formed by guitarist and vocalist Scott Lucas, bassist Matt Garcia, drummer Joe Daniels, and lead guitarist John Sparkman in Zion, Illinois in 1990. The members all met in high school in 1987 and founde ...

and

Atlas Moth ''Attacus atlas'', the Atlas moth, is a large saturniid moth endemic to the forests of Asia. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Description The Atlas moth is one of the largest ...

. As of 2016, she worked in a quartet with Chad Taylor (drums), Jason Ajemian (bass) and

Tomeka Reid Tomeka Reid (born 1977) is an American composer, improviser, cellist, curator, and teacher. Reid has performed and recorded with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Nicole Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble, Mike Reed's ...

(cello), as well as with Mike Pride, Shayna Dulberger and

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, and with Yoni Kretzmer and Tobey Cederberg. In 2017 she released her debut solo album, ''Fly or Die'', with Tomeka Reid, Jason Ajemian, Chad Taylor, Matt Schneider (guitar),

Ben LaMar Gay Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin (name), Benjamin, Benedict (given name), Benedict, Bennett (name), Bennett or Benson (given name), Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (Hebrew), Ben (in ...

, and

Josh Berman Joshua Berman is an American writer and producer for television. He was an executive producer on the TV show '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and consulting producer on ''Bones''. Career Josh Berman was born in 1972. Berman's writing care ...

(cornet). ''Fly or Die'' was chosen as one of NPR Music's Top 50 Albums of 2017. Branch cited

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

Axel Dörner Axel Dörner (born 26 April 1964 in Cologne, Germany) is a German trumpeter, pianist, and composer. Biography Dörner studied piano in the Dutch town Arnhem (1988–89) and at the Music Academy in Cologne (1989–1996). From 1991 he studied t ...

Booker Little Booker Little Jr. (April 2, 1938 – October 5, 1961)
– accessed June 2010 was an American

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

, and

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

among her musical influences. Branch died at home in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn on August 22, 2022, at the age of 39.

Discography (in selection)

Albums as bandleader

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

: ''Fly or Die'' ( International Anthem Recording Co.) * 2019: ''Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise'' (International Anthem Recording Co.) * 2021: ''FLY or DIE LIVE'' (International Anthem Recording Co.)

Collaborations

; Keefe Jacksons Project, with Dave Rempis, Guillermo Gregorio, Anton Hatwich, Jason Stein, James Falzone, Frank Rosaly, Josh Berman, Jeb Bishop, Nick Broste, and Marc Unternährer * 2007:''Just Like This'' ( Delmark Records) ; New Fracture Quartet, with Nate McBride, Tim Daisy, and Dave Miller * 2008: ''1,000 Lights'' ( Multikulti Project) ; Predella Group, with Nate McBride, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Tim Daisy, Jeff Parker, Ken Vandermark, and Jeb Bishop * 2010: ''Strade D ' Acqua / Roads of Water'' (Multikulti Project) ; Bullet Hell, with Jakob Kart and Theodore Representerer * 2013: ''Smart Bombs'' (Pionic Records) ; Beyond All Things, with Chris Welcome (bandleader) and others * 2018: ''Live at the Bushwick Series'' (gaucimusic) ; Anteloper, with Jason Nazary * 2018: ''Kudu'' (International Anthem Recording Co.) * 2020: ''Tour Beats Vol. 1'' (International Anthem Recording Co.) * 2022: ''Pink Dolphins'' (International Anthem Recording Co.) ; Party Knüllers X Jaimie Branch * 2019: ''Live at la Casa'' (

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

, digital only) ; Ig Henneman, Jaimie Branch & Anne La Berge * 2019: ''Dropping Stuff and Other Folk Songs'' (

Relative Pitch Records Relative Pitch Records is an American independent record label specializing in free jazz and avant-garde jazz, free improvisation, and experimental music. Run by Kevin Reilly, Relative Pitch has been ranked among the top jazz record labels in ' ...

) ; An Unruly Manifesto, with James Brandon Lewis (bandleader) and others * 2019: ''An Unruly Manifesto'' (Relative Pitch Records) * 2022:

Medicine Singers Medicine Singers is a group of Native American ritual performance artists who began performing at pow wows and in other contexts, singing in an Eastern Algonquian dialect under their original moniker, Eastern Medicine Singers. In 2017, they beg ...

Stone Tapes Stone Tapes is an independent record label, music collective and imprint of Joyful Noise Recordings curated by Yonatan Gat. The label was founded in 2022, branching off of Joyful Noise's artist-in-residence program, and emerged from visions and ...

Joyful Noise Recordings Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label from Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on many of the label's first releases. Joyful Noise maintains an a ...

) ; Dave Gisler Trio with Jaimie Branch and David Murray * 2022: ''See You Out There'' ( Intakt)

References

External links

* * * *
Intervju in Jazz Right Now (2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Branch, Jaimie 1983 births 2022 deaths 21st-century trumpeters American jazz trumpeters Jazz musicians from New York (state) Musicians from Brooklyn People from Red Hook, Brooklyn People from Wilmette, Illinois Jazz musicians from Illinois 21st-century American composers 21st-century American women musicians American jazz composers Women jazz composers American women jazz musicians Women trumpeters People from Huntington, New York New England Conservatory alumni Deaths from influenza