Songs My Mom Liked

Dr. Anthony Branker (who turns 66 this month) is a man of many talents. He started as a trumpeter with the Spirit of Life Ensemble and took new musical paths after brain surgery for arteriovenous malformation. In the jazz world, he is highly regarded as a composer and arranger, a leader of three jazz ensembles, and an educator who has taught jazz studies at Princeton University for 27 years.

Songs My Mom Liked, his tenth album with Origin and his third with Imagine, is a profound, soulful, and deeply spiritual album rooted in jazz traditions. Branker brings new life to songs from his repertoire, explores new paths and challenges the limitations of the genre. The album honors the resilience and strong spirit of his 88-year-old mother, who suffers from dementia. Branker noticed that his earlier music animated and uplifted her. So, for this project, he assembled brilliant collaborators: Donny McCaslin (tenor, soprano), Philip Dizack (trumpet), Fabian Almazan (piano), Linda May Han Oh (bass), Rudy Royston (drums), Pete McCann (guitar) and guest Aubrey Johnson (vocals). The album delivers a generous amount of music in a dozen lengthy tracks. All songs were composed by the leader except "If...", based on a melody written by his 11-year-old daughter.

The album is full of gems. The lively "The House of the Brotherhood of the Black Heads" is remarkable for its impressionistic quality and imaginative rhythmic interplay between McCaslin and Dizack. The gorgeous, lyrical "Land of Milk & Honey" features exceptional solos by Almazan and the trumpeter. For "Imani (Faith)", Oh and Royston provide a mesmerizing rhythmic base for the freewheeling, improvisational sections. "Three Gifts (From a Nigerian Mother to God)" opens with Johnson's unaccompanied, wordless vocals, which make this unhurried, melancholy tune truly hypnotic. The swinging "When We Said Goodbye" is a nice feature for McCann. The most captivating and heartfelt track is "The Holy Innocent (for KB and the Children of Gaza)". Originally written for Branker's stillborn daughter, this richly textured song and its recurring melodic theme express a sorrow beyond words.

Songs My Mom Liked is a moving tribute to Branker's mother. Sad, bittersweet, and hopeful all at once, it never fails to captivate.