DOMO BRANCH

HAND OF GIFTS

Albina Music Trust

Domo Branch, drums/composer; Russell Hall, bass; Tyler Henderson, piano; Abdias Armenterros, saxophones.

The Domo Branch album, “Hand of Gifts” captures the drummer’s commitment to remaining grateful for music’s blessings, despite life’s trials.  Sometimes those trials and tribulations inspire a person to expand their imagination and creativity; to grow.  This body of music is an example of plowing through life challenges and transforming them to something worthy of treasuring.

Opening with a song he titled, “Harlem Nights,” Branch recalls a 2024-year of racing back and forth between New York City and Portland, Oregon.  The piano solo of Tyler Henderson personified that maddening chase between states, and states-of-emotion.  His fingers fly as the song develops until the horns take over to explore the Domo Branch melody. His drums are the heartbeat of this piece.  Towards the end, they pound their way to the top, holding the tempo steady, while exhibiting wild abandonment and creativity.  This song introduces me to Domo Branch, the drummer, band leader, and composer.

“Our Man Bogle” is the only tune on this awesome album that Branch did not compose. It was written by Thara Memory, a high school band director and trumpeter. This tune is wedged deeply in the blues. Abdias Armenteros takes this opportunity to stretch out on his saxophone with a powerful improvised solo.

The tune “Big Moves” reminds me a lot of the way Eddie Harris composed.  It fuses contemporary jazz with old school funk, something Eddie Harris and Les McCann both loved to write and play.

The Branch ballad, “A Letter to Peanut” is a composition inspired by the death of his beloved brother in 2024. That was a year of touring and emotional turmoil. This tune becomes a memorial to his sibling with a heartfelt bass solo by both Russell Hall and sax man, Armenterros.

Domo Branch is no newcomer to the jazz scene.  He is emerging as a leading voice in contemporary jazz, collaborating with established talents like Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Sean Jones, Stefon Harris, Catherine Russell, Terence Blanchard and Dianne Reeves.

On the title tune, “Hand of Gifts” Tyler Henderson is outstanding on the 88-keys, making the piano talk to me in bright, improvised ways.  Branch pushes the arrangement ahead on his drums, building the intensity as the song progresses.  Illuminating mad technique, he continues showing us what he’s got to work with on nearly three minutes of playing “Solo Drum.”

This album embodies intergenerational vibrancy, along with a youthful and exuberant desire to ‘give back’ and create something new. Like those masters who came before him, Domo Branch displays a consistency in his music as a composer, a drummer, and an inspiration to his quartet.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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