JAIMIE BRANCH: My name is Jaimie Branch. I'm a trumpet player in Chicago.

I've always been a musician from the time I was a little kid, so I've kind of naturally just gravitated towards experimental music I think a lot of people d after a while. If you've got a lot done with kind of traditional music when you're younger and you're a natural kind of wonderer or experimenter or against the grain anyway, eventually something about experimental music will click with you.

For me, it's most of the time it's avant garde, free jazz, or free jazz, avant garde. It's a little pretentious maybe.

[JAIMIE BRANCH PERFORMING FREE JAZZ]

My first trumpet was stolen in August, and that was a horn that I have had since I was a little kid, and my brother gave it to me and it was a Bach 37, and it was raw brass, and I think just maybe because I'm used to Bach. This one's also a Bach. It's a Bach 72 which has a little bit larger bell than a 37. It's a medium-large bore which is the same -- that old one was like late 70s, late 80s; this one is probably 90s and it's silver plated.

The reason I went for this one was just because of this is the most open horn that I had tried, and I probably have tried like 20 or 30 horns. SO, I actually borrowed this from the guy for about a month or two before I actually bought it.

The stuff I've resolved to get done, it is like my other horn I kind of had modified for smaller hands like I brought this ring up this ring in, and I'm going do that for this one just because it's a comfort thing basically. This hor is a little bit brighter I think and has a little bit more projection so it's changed my sound but people say it's not changed as much as maybe I think. I'm like super into like dark trumpet sounds, and the other horn being raw brass was a little bit more naturally drawn that way I think because it's a way the finish affects the overtones so the silver is a little bit brighter.

[JAIMIE BRANCH PERFORMING FREE JAZZ WITH RUPERT]

Kind of the fun about different groups is that you get to play with different timbres and like latch on to the other people's techniques, so you're playing with another brass player, oftentimes what happens is you guys kind of hook up on similar techniques that you use, and that becomes a point of interest in the performance. And, you know, playing with drums and bass and guitars is awesome too but that's a little bit more role-oriented perhaps like you have to be the main melodic carrier and stuff like that.

I've had actually conversations with groups about being like a traditional instrumentation but breaking out of those traditional roles so we kind of all share this an equal weight of responsibility so it's not completely the drummer's responsibility to take on like the rhythmic aspect, and we can all play rhythmically etc. etc. like the bass player can be the melodic instrument and that I can be supporting him.