Songs My Mom Liked

4 1/2 STARS
Branker has written for Kenny Barron, Benny Carter, Eddie Henderson, John Hicks, Stanley Jordan, Talib Kibwe, Ben Allison, Jane Ira Bloom, Dave Douglas and John Beasley. He is a conductor who is willingly invited to collaborate with musicians of this degree such as Wynton Marsalis (during the recording of "Abyssinian 200: A Gospel Celebration") and Terence Blanchard's "A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina).

After the great album "What Place Can Be for Us? - A Suite in Ten Movements" (Origin Records, 2023) Anthony Branker (1958) introduces a new recording. The lineup of his Imagine band is impressive, just mention saxophonist Donny McCaslin (Maria Schneider Orchestra, David Binney, Johnathan Blake, Scott Colley, Ben Monder, Antonio Sánchez, Edward Simon and David Bowie) and double bassist Linda May Han Oh (Pat Metheny, Kenny Barron, Geri Allen, Vijay Iyer and Terri Lyne Carrington).

This extremely personal record (dedicated to the composer's mother suffering from dementia), opens to the listener a rich panorama of multi-note jazz, always retaining its original character. From the opening cd, post-bop "Praise," to the catchy, almost pop tune "If," composed by Kassandra Branker, Branker's daughter who died at 11, the album draws the listener in. Branker performs here in two roles, composer and conductor, both roles are handled perfectly, and through the appropriate, carefully thought-out distribution of accents and adequate use of the potential of the musicians gathered in the studio, we feel like an exemplary intimate partnership and a high form of improvisation.

"Songs My Mom Liked" is a praise of life, full of touching moments, universal beauty, a feeling of oneness with the world - no surprise the end of the review in JazzTimes "Branker incorporates these elements in broad, bold strokes, like a muralist. He has yet to make a bad record".