Peter Ganushkin Photo
There’s an austerity to the music of Fly or Die, the quartet led by trumpeter Jaimie Branch. The band’s second set at Firehouse 12 on Friday night was cinematic, about 50 minutes in length, during which they displayed a wide scope of expression. Whether fluidly navigating between open spaces for part or all of the band, or playing pieces with tight grooves and prominent vocals and lyrics by the leader, the music felt grounded and present throughout, displaying a sense of trust between the members — and a puckish sense of humor.
“As a trumpet player, I’ve been leading my own groups for a while,” Branch said in an interview, and Fly or Die as a quartet displayed a clear sense of leadership and direction, even dealing with a lot of fully improvised contributions from cellist Lester St. Louis, bassist Jason Ajemian, and percussionist Chad Taylor, who also contributed mbira.
In performance, Branch gave physical and verbal cues to the band, and this gave a lot of shape to the music. This was especially clear in an interlude following the first piece, which began as a cello solo. St. Louis coaxed fully percussive timbres out of his instrument, taking full advantage of its metal, wood, and hollow body. He was joined by Ajemian, who escalated, briefly giving a duel-like quality to the music, until Branch joined, rubbing the treads of her shoes on the floor and whistling to punctuate the sound. Taylor joined, playing the metal frames of the drums as much as the skins, as the band enjoyed a quiet, free moment which segued smoothly into the next piece.
“We did about a month in Europe, in November 2018, and that was really good for us to get a real band sound,” Branch said. Friday’s show found the band in similar form, as it was the final run of a week-long North American tour. “I introduced different tunes while we were on the road, some of which we ended up recording. I also kinda sprung tunes on the fellas before the shows.”
Adam Matlock Photo
In performance, there was a distinct sense of looseness, but no lack of conviction. The opening number began with a hypnotic groove from Taylor’s mbira, accented by pizzicato cello and interlocking with Ajemian, who used a wooden dowel on the strings of his bass. Branch entered with quiet long tones, the muted bell of her trumpet going all the way into a separate microphone treated with a reverb effect.
The groove grew more spacious as Branch began on the microphone, delivering an introduction and brief monologue while the band continued behind her.
“Glad you’re still here”, she said, referring to the crowd turnover between the first and second set. “We’re gonna play some secret shit for you,” she continued, referring to material from the band’s forthcoming second album, due out in the fall. The piece that followed saw Branch alternating between huge smears in the high register of her trumpet and vocals that recalled the half-rhythmic spoken-word interludes of soul singer Lou Rawls but with simmering energy more reminiscent of hardcore punk.
In introducing the set, Branch mentioned that this song came together spontaneously while the band was playing in Paris last year on the night of the midterm elections. But “the couple of tunes that we worked on during the tour that made it on the record, they really came together over time. As far as the music goes, I bring all the pieces, but we improvise the rest to fill it out.”
Branch is prolific as an improviser, and performed recently at the State House in New Haven in a trio with guitarist/bassist Joe Morris and percussionist/saxophonist Paul Gunsberg. She has also appeared in past years at Never Ending Books and with several groups at Wesleyan. You can see the free music ethos in her composition and her band leading style.
Take the moment toward the end of the set, where, led by Taylor on drum kit, band members picked up percussion instruments to create a layered groove, not unlike how the set began. With Ajemian playing shaker, Branch playing cowbell, and St. Louis playing clave, Taylor opened seamlessly into a drum solo, playing with and against the established groove with equal dexterity. But there was clear communication, and everyone was on the same page when it came time to move into the final piece of the set.
“If a band is good, musical trust happens right away. Musical trust for me can develop well before personal trust. You have to be able to put yourself in a vulnerable position, and listen to everyone else — I think that’s trust,” Branch said. During Friday night’s set, that feeling was on full display. Branch was the leader, the composer, and shaped the sound, but the communication across the room, throughout the set, was the kind of balanced sound that can only be created when musicians can count on each other.
