Avant-garde trumpeter jaimie branch dies at 39

Beloved trumpet player jaimie branch died Monday night at 39. A representative of branch’s label, International Anthem, confirmed the news to The FADER and shared a statement crafted in collaboration with her family. No cause of death was given.

“At 9:21 pm on Monday, August 22, composer and trumpeter jaimie branch passed away in her home in Red Hook, Brooklyn,” the statement reads. “Her family, friends, and community are heart broken. jaimie was a daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, friend and teacher; she touched countless numbers of people with her music and spirit, both of which are fearless, truthful and beautiful, and will live on in hearts and ears forever. jaimie’s family asks not just for your thoughts and prayers but also for your action. Show your love and support for your family and friends and anyone who may be in need — just like jaimie did for all of us.”

branch was a sensational musician who brought a punk-rock sensibility to the free-jazz tradition and maintained a fierce commitment to racial and gender equality throughout her career. Born on Long Island in June 1983, she was co-raised by her grandmother, who became her first musical collaborator before passing away when branch was seven years old. Her family moved to Chicago when she was nine. An instant prodigy on the trumpet, she graduated from the New England Conservatory in 2005 and returned to Chicago, immersing herself in the city’s vibrant experimental scene, where she collaborated and performed with Nicole Mitchell, Matana Roberts, Ken Vandermark, Tomeka Reid, Tim Daisy, Anton Hatwich, Frank Rosaly, Jason Ajemian, Fred Lonberg-Holm, and many others.

In 2012, she left for Baltimore in pursuit of a master’s degree in Jazz Performance from Towson University. She moved to Brooklyn in 2015 after finishing her studies. There, she founded the band Fly or Die with Tomeka Reid, Jason Ajemian, and Chad Taylor 2016. The group released their self-titled debut album — branch’s first LP as a leader — in 2017, and branch co-founded the duo Anteloper with Jason Nazary the same year. In 2019, she was awarded a Jerome Foundation commission, and in 2020, she held a residency at the famed Brooklyn avant-garde club Roulette. Downbeat named her their Rising Star Trumpet Player that year, and she received the inaugural Deutscher Jazzpreis for Wind Instruments International in 2021.

Watch Fly Or Die’s transcendent 2018 set at Visions Festival 23, also held at Roulette, below.