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

Life and career

Branch was born in

Huntington, New York Huntington is one of ten Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town's population was 204,127 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the 11 ...

, on June 17, 1983. She started playing trumpet at age nine. At age 14, she moved to Wilmette, 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. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

. 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 composit ...

. She performed in Chicago and New York with her trio Princess, Princess (with bassist Toby Summerfield and drummer Frank Rosaly) and in trios with Tim Daisy and Daniel Levin. In 2012 Branch moved to

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, 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, United States. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its foundin ...

. 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. He refers to himself as the anti-cellist. Lonberg-Holm is most identified with playing free improvisation and free j ...

, Mike Pride, Luke Stewart, Jason Nazary, Tcheser Holmes, and many more. In addition, she performed on albums with the independent rock groups Never Enough Hope, Local H and The Atlas Moth. As of 2016, she worked in a quartet with Chad Taylor (drums), Jason Ajemian (bass) and Tomeka Reid (cello), as well as with Mike Pride, Shayna Dulberger and

Weasel Walter Weasel Walter (born Christopher Todd Walter, May 18, 1972) is an American composer, improviser, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of ugEXPLODE Records. Walter's work has been informed by techniques and traditions of music including A ...

, 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, Ben LaMar Gay, and Josh Berman. ''Fly or Die'' was chosen as one of NPR Music's Top 50 Albums of 2017. Branch cited Don Cherry,

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 Cologne University of Music, Music Academy in Cologne (1989– ...

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 jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

, 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 Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

on August 22, 2022, at the age of 39, from an accidental drug overdose.

Discography

Albums as bandleader

* ''Fly or Die'' ( International Anthem, 2017) * ''Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise'' (International Anthem, 2019) * ''Fly or Die Live'' (International Anthem, 2021) * '' Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die (World War)'' (International Anthem, 2023)

With Anteloper

;Duo with Jason Nazary * 2018: ''Kudu'' ( International Anthem) * 2020: ''Tour Beats Vol. 1'' (International Anthem) * 2022: ''Pink Dolphins'' (International Anthem)

Collaborations

* Keefe Jackson's Project Project (with

Dave Rempis Dave Rempis (born March 24, 1975) is an American free jazz saxophonist. He plays the soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. Life and career Dave was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1975. He began his musical studies at the age of 8. I ...

Guillermo Gregorio Guillermo Gregorio (born May 1, 1941, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine jazz and free improvisation clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer. Biography Gregorio was born into a musical family. He became interested in experimental music in the early 19 ...

, Anton Hatwich, Jason Stein, James Falzone, Frank Rosaly, Josh Berman,

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

, Nick Broste, Marc Unternährer), ''Just Like This'' ( Delmark Records, 2007) * New Fracture Quartet (with Nate McBride, Tim Daisy, Dave Miller), ''1,000 Lights'' ( Multikulti Project, 2008) * Predella Group (with Nate McBride,

, Tim Daisy, Jeff Parker,

), ''Strade D ' Acqua / Roads of Water'' (Multikulti, 2010) * Bullet Hell (with Jakob Kart and Theodore Representerer), ''Smart Bombs'' (Pionic, 2013) * Beyond All Things (with Chris Welcome and others), ''Live at the Bushwick Series'' (gaucimusic, 2018) * Party Knüllers X Jaimie Branch, ''Live at la Casa'' (2019) * Ig Henneman, Jaimie Branch & Anne La Berge, ''Dropping Stuff and Other Folk Songs'' (

Relative Pitch Relative pitch is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note by comparing it to a reference note and identifying the interval between those two notes. For example, if the notes ''Do'' and ''Fa'' are played on a piano, a ...

, 2019) * An Unruly Manifesto ( James Brandon Lewis and others), ''An Unruly Manifesto'' (Relative Pitch, 2019) *

Medicine Singers Medicine Singers is a group of singers and drummers in the Native American pow wow style. They sing in an Eastern Algonquian dialect under their original moniker, Eastern Medicine Singers. In 2017, they began collaborating with Israeli guitari ...

, ''Medicine Singers'' (

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

& Joyful Noise, 2022) * Dave Gisler Trio (with Jaimie Branch), ''Zurich Concert'' ( Intakt, 2020) * Dave Gisler Trio (with Jaimie Branch and David Murray), ''See You Out There'' (Intakt, 2022)

References

External links

* * * *
Intervju in Jazz Right Now (2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Branch, Jaimie 1983 births 2022 deaths 21st-century American trumpeters American jazz trumpeters Musicians from Brooklyn Jazz musicians from New York City 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 American women jazz composers American women jazz musicians Women trumpeters People from Huntington, New York New England Conservatory alumni Drug-related deaths in New York City International Anthem Recording Company artists