jaimie branch - FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise (IA11 Edition) out December 5th
jaimie branch
FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise
(IA11 Edition)
Vinyl LP in stores
December 5, 2025
preorder here
Today we are honored to announce the penultimate entry in the IA11 series of special edition releases. FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise is an undeniable pinnacle. It's one of the finest, fiercest recordings laid down by one of the most sonically fluent, spiritually connected musicians we've been blessed to hear, know, and collaborate with – the late, great, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader, jaimie branch.
bird dogs of paradise, originally released in the fall of 2019, was hugely anticipated in its time. Roughly a year before its release, and following the success of her debut Fly or Die album, branch whisked her incredible quartet across Europe for a string of performances. Across that November 2018 tour, the group stretched a songbook in-process to its limit, improvising en modo deconstructivo, tugging at the music’s edges and relentlessly morphing the sound of a four-fold liberation machine that included branch (trumpet), Chad Taylor (drums), Jason Ajemian (bass), and newcomer Lester St. Louis (cello), who had recently replaced Tomeka Reid.
Most of bird dogs of paradise was recorded in studio at Total Refreshment Centre over three days, and live at Café OTO over two nights that same week – at the tail end of the tour.
The album itself captures a very significant moment in the arc of branch's band. St. Louis’s presence had provided a fresh injection of virtuosic curiosity, and the interplay between him and Ajemian rejiggered the crew’s string-driven multi-rhythmic plonk swing while also refreshing their alternately aggressive and melodious heavy-bite bowing with an expanded pocket. It was a highly fertile foundation for branch to experiment and explore, reach for the nether regions of her instrument, and continue to focus and refine her flagship ensemble into a wholly original sound.
bird dogs of paradise also introduced the wider world to branch’s singing voice. “prayer for amerikkka pt. 1 & 2” - written and first performed by branch in Paris on the night of the 2018 US midterm elections - has since become a rallying cry for those who share her sense of justice in a world controlled by those who are seemingly unconcerned with it. And on “love song" (for assholes and clowns), branch shows us her cards with a wink and a smile. “So much beauty lies in the abstract of instrumental music,” branch says in the album’s original liner notes, “but being this ain’t a particularly beautiful time, I’ve chosen a more literal path. The voice is good for that.”
The IA11 Edition of FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise comes on classic black 140-gram vinyl LP (pressed at Pallas in Germany, with lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST) inside a heavyweight reverse-board jacket, with a 16-page 11x11" insert booklet featuring previously-unpublished photos, two sets of new liner notes – the first by jaimie’s mom, Soledad “Sally” Branch, as told to Kate Branch, and the second by Fly or Die bassist Jason Ajemian – plus IARC 2025 obi strip and printed poly-lined printed inner-sleeve.
Liner Notes by Soledad “Sally” Branch
as told to Kate Branch
The highlight of this IA11 Edition vinyl package is the addition of liner notes by jaimie's mom, Soledad "Sally" Branch, as told to jaimie's sister Kate Branch.
In an incredibly generous, deeply intimate retrospective on her daughter, Sally starts with recollections of jaimie as a child singing with family, immersed in their Latina heritage, and developing a strong sense of social justice from a young age.
She renders jaimie at pivotal moments in her life that eventually lead to the writing of "prayer for amerikkka pt. 1 & 2" – the opening salvo of FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise, which was inspired by the experience of an asylum-seeking Salvadoran family that Sally supported as a psychotherapist and social worker. After Sally shared their story with jaimie, sometime in 2018, it became the basis for a statement released by jaimie in 2019, and perhaps even more relevant in 2025.
"jaimie always was a person who had her ear to the ground to the injustices in the world," Sally writes in her notes. “'prayer for amerikkka pt. 1 & 2’ was her way of getting involved.”
11 of 11
@ Hungry Brain Chicago
As part of our year-long IA11 celebration, we have been proud to present this special event series in Chicago, focusing on a different album from our catalog on the last Monday of every month across 2025 at the Hungry Brain. Each 11 of 11 event features deep listening of an album, followed by a small group of musicians performing an interpretation of that album.
Monday November 24 will feature a full listening of jaimie branch's FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise, followed by a performance by bassist (and close friend of jaimie) Anton Hatwich with an ensemble TBA.
ICYMI
Watch this incredible video documenting jaimie branch's London debut, the first time she visited Total Refreshment Centre (roughly one year before she returned to cut FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise).
October 18, 2017. It was night one of the CHICAGOxLONDON showcase at Total Refreshment Centre (presented by International Anthem with DJ/broadcaster Tina Edwards’s then-active EZH Mag).
It was just a few months after the release of jaimie’s first FLY or DIE album and a string of US performances with the original quartet featuring Tomeka Reid on cello, Jason Ajemian on bass, and Chad Taylor on drums. Chad couldn’t make the trip to London, so jaimie called Frank Rosaly – who had recently moved from Chicago to Amsterdam, making it an easy trip for him to come through and sub on drums. Between Frank playing the music for the first time and jaimie inviting Angel Bat Dawid (clarinet) and Ben LaMar Gay (cornet) to sit in with the band on “leaves of glass,” she decided she needed some rehearsal time.
The folks at TRC let us use the upstairs studio the day of the show, and jaimie pulled the music together in just a couple hours of running it down. This film – shot by Mark Pallman and David Burkart, and edited by Burkart – modulates back and forth between scenes from the rehearsal and moments from the performance later that night, offering a vivid view into jaimie’s unique vision and prowess as a bandleader, and her genuinely incredible ability to communicate ideas and lead musicians in fluid, creative executions of her compositions.
jaimie branch
Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die
((world war))
LP/CD/Digi album
released August 25th, 2023
In July of 2022, just one month before jaimie branch’s death sent shockwaves around the world, the trumpet player and composer was in Chicago at International Anthem studios putting finishing touches on an album. It was a suite of music she had composed and then recorded with her flagship ensemble, Fly or Die, over the course of a residency at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska. In her wake, the album was near complete, with only mixing tweaks, final titles, and artwork to be fully realized. In the months following, her family (led by sister Kate Branch), her band (Jason Ajemian, Lester St. Louis, and Chad Taylor), and her collaborators at IARC banded together to gather memories, texts, emails, photographs, artwork and fragments belonging to jaimie to light the path forward. The goal was always to do what jaimie would have done. Packaged in stunning artwork by John Herndon, Damon Locks, and branch herself, Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) is jaimie’s final album with her Fly or Die quartet.
“Both a final call to action from jaimie — musical, spiritual, political — from beyond the grave and a tribute to jaimie, a tragic yet triumphant send-off from those who knew and loved her best.” - FADER
“Electrifying… If we’re lucky, Branch’s impact will be felt for years." - New York Times (Critic’s Pick)
"It’s a heartbreaking glimpse of where she might have gone next, but more importantly, it’s a joy to hear." - Pitchfork (Best New Music)
“Listen to it, and remember jaimie branch as a shooting star who passed by too quickly.” - Stereogum
“A masterwork….” - SPIN
“Caps off one of the great catalogues in 21st century jazz.” - The Wire
“jaimie branch isn’t the kind of musician you talk about in the past tense…" - Chicago Tribune
Listen & Purchase
Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die
((world war))
(photo by Ben Semisch)
jaimie branch
(June 17 1983 – August 22 2022)
First and foremost, jaimie “Breezy” branch (intentionally punctuated as all-lower-case) was a trumpet player. Whether it was the blast of her horn’s long steady full-bodied tone, or the expressiveness she’d add with plunger mutes and harmonizing looped effects, branch played the trumpet like she was born to, reasserting her love for and fascination with the instrument each and every time she brought it to her lips. If you need one reason to know why jaimie branch was a special musical force, start there.
