Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise cover

Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise

Released

On her second album with her Fly Or Die band, Jaimie Branch becomes a political polemicist; the album’s heart is the 11-minute “Prayer For Amerikkka,” a two part song-poem that tackles racism, both individual and structural, and the plight of immigrants. Branch recites razor-sharp lyrics over a crawling, Mingus-esque blues vamp. Other tracks like “Simple Silver Surfer” and “Nuevo Roquero Estéreo” just let the band — bassist Jason Ajemian and drummer Chad Taylor from the debut, and new cellist Lester St. Louis — groove, and that’s fantastic too.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
The Milwaukee Tapes, Vol. 2 cover

The Milwaukee Tapes, Vol. 2

Fred Anderson Quartet
The Melodic Line cover

The Melodic Line

Vincent Courtois, Reverso, Frank Woeste, Ryan Keberle
The Epic cover

The Epic

Kamasi Washington
Rembrandt Pussyhorse cover

Rembrandt Pussyhorse

Butthole Surfers
Hz cover

Hz

Main
Unit Structures cover

Unit Structures

Cecil Taylor
12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 cover

12 Comp (ZIM) 2017

Anthony Braxton
Nightcrawler cover

Nightcrawler

Kevin Richard Martin
The Clearing cover

The Clearing

JJJJJerome Ellis