Anthony Branker & Imagine

Songs My Mom Liked

Origin

Composer and musical director Anthony Branker assembled a to-die-for ensemble to render songs from his catalog that were especially touching to his mom, who is suffering from dementia. Hence the title, Songs My Mom Liked. Cast as a ‘celebration of life,’ Branker says, “I definitely wanted to use a group of musicians who had never played these pieces before and would interpret them from a different musical stance.” He recruited some of the most adventurous and expressive soloists on the scene with Donny McCaslin (tenor and soprano saxophones), Philip Dizack (trumpet), Fabian Almazan (piano), Linda May Han Oh (double bass), Rudy Royston (drums), Pete McCann (guitar) and guest Aubrey Johnson (vocals).  Given the inclinations of many of these players, one may at first think avant-garde, but this music is highly accessible ensemble work, with just the right amount of edge that imbues many of the solos.

The inspiration for the album is from Branker taking his mom for car rides where he would play music for his earlier albums that he thought she might remember. On those certain tracks that drew a visible and sometimes audible reaction, Branker carefully noted them for this project. His mom is a native of Trinidad, a talented singer, and has a love for jazz, soul, and R&B. Music has long been a special bond between mother and son.

This is the third outing for Branker’s group, Imagine, but most of the selections here trace to the more groove-focused work of his groups Ascent and Word Play. Nearly half of these songs source from Spirit Songs (2006) and Blessings (2009). As you can glean, spirituality plays heavily into these choices (more on that later). There are three new pieces as well.

Opener “Praise” is an expansive ensemble piece, rich with heated spots from McCaslin, Dizack, and Royston. Linda May Han Oh’s woody double bass introduces “Sketches of Selim,” another sweeping piece featuring emotive turns from Dizack, Almazan, and McCaslin (on tenor). The ensemble navigates the tricky start-stop rhythms in the mid-section before returning to the rather cinematic head. McCaslin’s trademark jabbing and thrusting trademark clusters buoy “The House of the Brotherhood of the Black Heads.”  Just about all the catalog pieces point to some aspect of spirituality in the title. Consider “Land of Milk & Honey,” “Imani (Faith),” “Hope,” and “To Be Touched By the Spirit.”  The front liners are the principal soloists along with Almazan on many of these while Johnson’s wordless vocals become rather mystical on “Three Gifts (From a Nigerian Mother to God) as Dizack’s soaring lines cede to soulful statements from McCaslin. The tune was inspired by a shaken mother interviewed on CCN after losing three children in a tragic plane crash. “Imani” (Fatih)” is underpinned with a soul-jazz groove. “Hope” is a delicate ballad, featuring the warm, intimate lines of Dizack and Almazan’s glistening pianism.

The three new pieces come consecutively in the last sequence. “When We Said Goodbye” is unexpectedly an upbeat groover featuring McCann’s strongest appearance with McCaslin digging deep into a ‘50s R&B type strain.  It was written when Branker was separated from his family in Estonia when he surely has his mom in his thoughts. As with several of the tracks, “To Be Touched (By the Spirit)” nods to his mother’s spiritual faith and strength and to these ears as it faintly evokes the sounds of McCoy Tyner and Randy Weston. The final track “If” may well be the most special of all as it is Branker’s arrangement of melody composed by his daughter Parris when she was just 11 years old, inspired, by of all things, smooth jazz that the family heard on the radio while traveling to Disney World in Florida.  Three generations are at play here and his mother was privileged to have heard it played by Branker’s students at Princeton University. Of course, with these musicians aboard, they inject the tune with vigorous verve that belies but somehow enhances the flowing melody.

There’s hardly a mournful moment in the 74 minutes, excepting “The Holy Innocent,” originally composed after the loss of Dr. Branker’s daughter Kassandra and here co-dedicated to “the Children of Gaza.” Branker rendered truly in the spirit of a ‘celebration of life,’ gorgeously lyrical with just the right dose of edginess, a most uplifting album that just begs for repeated listens.

• Jim Hynes

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