Tour Beats Vol. 1

Although she’s been active for a few years, American trumpeter Jaimie Branch made a stunning entrance into the small world of jazz with the first part of her diptych Fly or Die, released in 2016. Her iconoclasm, her supple playing, her wide range of sounds, her punk attitude, and her heartfelt salvoes directed against the Trump administration have made her one of the favourite artists of a new generation of jazzophiles.

Together with drummer Jason Nazary, she forms the duo Anteloper, who released their debut album Kudu in 2018. Synthesisers, sequencers, effects pedals, and other similar gizmos are all part of the instrumentation of the two artists. The result is music whose electronic components enter into dialogue with the more traditional instruments played by Branch and Nazary.

As the title suggests, Tour Beats Vol. 1 was recorded during a series of concerts last year. The four pieces contained on this EPwill appeal to fans of psychedelic sound collages. They’re based in the universe created by Miles Davis on his album On the Corner. This electronic jazz suite, being less ambitious than the Fly or Die adventure, won’t have the same impact, but it allows us to appreciate the versatility of a most irreverent artist.