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
Spiritual Unity cover

Spiritual Unity

Albert Ayler
Solstice cover

Solstice

Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber, Jon Christensen, Ralph Towner
The Magic Triangle cover

The Magic Triangle

Famoudou Don Moye, Joseph Jarman, Don Pullen
Live in Seattle cover

Live in Seattle

John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders
Sankofa cover

Sankofa

Amaro Freitas
Thembi cover

Thembi

Pharoah Sanders