Anthony Branker Musician - All About Jazz

Updated: January 26, 2023

Born: August 28, 1958

Composer, conductor, and bandleader Anthony Branker is an Origin Records recording artist who was named in Down Beat magazine’s 63rd & 62nd Annual Critics Poll as a “Rising Star Composer.” Dr. Branker has nine releases in his fast growing and musically rich discography that include: What Place Can Be For Us? (Origin, 2023), Beauty Within (Origin, 2016), The Forward (Towards Equality) Suite (Origin, 2014), Uppity (Origin, 2013), Together (Origin, 2012), Dialogic (Origin, 2011), Dance Music (Origin, 2010), Blessings (Origin, 2009), and Spirit Songs (Sons of Sound, 2006), which have featured Walter Smith III, Philip Dizack, Remy Le Boeuf, Fabian Almazan, Linda May Han Oh, Donald Edwards, Pete McCann, Alison Crockett, Rudy Royston, Ralph Bowen, David Binney, Conrad Herwig, Jim Ridl, Kenny Davis, Renato Thoms, Mark Gross, Tia Fuller, Steve Wilson, Antonio Hart, Clifford Adams, Andy Hunter, Eli Asher, Jonny King, Bryan Carrott, John Benitez, Belden Bullock, Adam Cruz, Ralph Peterson Jr., Wilby Fletcher, Kadri Voorand, and Freddie Bryant.

In 2023, Origin Records will release Branker’s ninth project as a leader titled What Place Can Be For Us? – A Suite in Ten-Movements that speaks to the overarching issues of inclusion, belonging, place as an emotional space of being, as well as circumstances of exploitation and zones of refuge experienced by people of color and other global citizens. It will feature tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, trumpeter Philip Dizack, alto & soprano saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf, guitarist Pete McCann, pianist Fabian Almazan, bassist Linda May Han Oh, drummer Donald Edwards, and vocalist Alison Crockett. Origin Records will also reissue Branker’s Spirit Songs project in the summer of 2023 featuring the late, great drummer Ralph Peterson, Jr. along with alto saxophonist Antonio Hart, tenor saxophonist Ralph Bowen, pianist Jonny King, bassist John Benitez, and the late trombonist Clifford Adams Jr., who was also a member of the legendary group Kool & the Gang.

Branker has received composition prizes and was a Third Place Winner in the 2021 International Songwriting Competition (ISC) in the jazz category, has received commissions, served as a visiting composer, and has had his music featured in performance in Poland, Italy, Denmark, Finland, France, Estonia, Russia, Australia, China, Germany, Lithuania, and Japan. During his residency at the Estonian Academy of Music & Theatre in Tallinn, Branker composed The Eesti Jazz Suite, a five-movement work inspired by the culture and the spirit of the people of Estonia. The work was premiered in 2006 at the academy of music as part of the concert tour of the Princeton University Jazz Composers Collective, which was sponsored by the Department of State of the United States, the U.S. Embassy in Estonia, and the Estonian Academy of Music. Dr. Branker’s works have also been performed and/or recorded by the New Wind Jazz Orchestra, Sylvan Winds with Max Pollack Dance Ensemble, Composers Concordance Big Band, Princeton University Orchestra, Rutgers University Jazz Ensemble, Rutgers Avant Garde Ensemble, Orrin Evans, Steve Nelson, Stanley Jordan, Talib Kibwe (TK Blue), Curtis Lundy, James Weidman, Calvin Hill, Steve Kroon, Jann Parker, and the Spirit of Life Ensemble, and have featured such guest soloists as Kenny Barron, Eddie Henderson, Winard Harper, John Hicks, Valery Ponomarev, Joe Ford, Cecil Brooks III, Onaje Allen Gumbs, and Alex Blake.

Dr. Anthony Branker was on the faculty at Princeton University for 27 years, where he held an endowed chair in jazz studies, was founding director of the program in jazz studies, and associate director of musical performance until his retirement in 2016. Currently, he is on the jazz studies faculty at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts where his teaching responsibilities have included graduate and undergraduate courses in jazz historiography, composition & arranging, theory, improvisation, and directing the Avant Garde Ensemble and Rutgers Jazz Ensemble II. Branker has also served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar at the Estonian Academy of Music & Theatre and has been a member of the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, Hunter College (CUNY), Ursinus College, and the New Jersey Summer Arts Institute. Dr. Branker was visiting composer at the Southern Danish Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Odense/Esbjerg, Denmark; Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg, Germany; and the Estonian Academy of Music & Theatre in Tallinn, Estonia.

Awards

International Songwriting Competition (ISC) - Third Place Award Winner in the JAZZ CategoryInternational Songwriting Competition (ISC) - Third Place Award Winner in the JAZZ Category

International Songwriting Competition (ISC) - Finalist and Honorable Mention Award in the PERFORMANCE Category International Songwriting Competition (ISC) -

Global Music Awards 3X Gold Medal Winner

Rising Star Composer - Down Beat's 63rd Annual Critics Poll 2015

Rising Star Composer - Down Beat's 62nd Annual Critics Poll 2014

Named to the Endowed Chair of The Anthony H.P. Lee Senior Lecturer in Jazz Studies in the Department of Music at Princeton University, 2010

Jazz Education Achievement Award for “Outstanding Accomplishment in the Field of Jazz Studies and Continued Dedication to the New Jersey Jazz Education Community” from the New Jersey Association for Jazz Education, 2009

Recipient of "Looking At: Jazz, America’s Art Form" grant for film viewing and discussion series from the National Endowment for the Humanities in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center, the American Library Association and Re: New Media, 2006-2007

U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Estonian Academy of Music & Theatre, Tallinn, Estonia

United States Presidential Scholars Teacher Award

Institute for Arts and Humanities Education Distinguished Teaching Award

New Jersey Association for Jazz Education 2009 Jazz Education Achievement Award for “Outstanding Accomplishment in the Field of Jazz Studies and Continued Dedication to the New Jersey Jazz Education Community.”

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Tags

All About Jazz Articles

Album Review

Spirit Songs by Robert R. Calder
Spirit Songs by Ken Franckling
Blessings by John Barron
Dance Music by Edward Blanco
Dance Music by Karl Ackermann

Live Review

Anthony Branker & Word Play: Princeton, NJ, April 3, 2011

Interview

Anthony Branker: Jazz Dialogics

Album Review

Uppity by Dan McClenaghan
Beauty Within by Dan McClenaghan
Beauty Within by Karl Ackermann

“Honing a hybrid of freewheeling post-bop and social commentary, abetted by judicious dollops of funk, fusion, spoken word, clave and polyrhythmic percussion…Branker incorporates these elements in broad, bold strokes, like a muralist. He has yet to make a bad record” — JazzTimes

“With a unique combination of depth and accessibility, Branker is able to put forth a jazz perspective steeped in soulful optimism.” —All About Jazz

“Anthony Branker is rising to the top of American jazz composers…a force to be reckoned with in the world of modern post-bop jazz” —Sea of Tranquility

“With a unique combination of depth and accessibility, Branker is able to put forth a jazz perspective steeped in soulful optimism.” —All About Jazz

“Anthony Branker is rising to the top of American jazz composers…a force to be reckoned with in the world of modern post-bop jazz” —Sea of Tranquility

“The composer (Branker) illuminates the pungent individuality of each musician without compromising the prominence of his own voice…Beauty Within presents a dense, blinding musical landscape - not revolutionary, but certainly brilliant” —JAZZIZ

“Anthony Branker is crafting some of today’s finest compositions…” —All About Jazz

“Branker's music relies on a strong rhythmic foundation, with Afro-Cuban inspired grooves and solo sections over energetic vamps…With a unique combination of depth and accessibility, Branker is able to put forth a jazz perspective steeped in soulful optimism.” —John Barron, All About Jazz

“Composer/arranger/trumpeter/mentor Anthony Branker is one of those gurus who, although he has appeared in the spotlight as a leader or co- collaborator with various big names, has made his most lasting mark as an educator and composer… (he) has proven to be an inspiration to many known and unknown musicians...Spirit Songs is Branker’s all-cards-on-the-table look at his compositional being, a deeply spiritual individual who uses his faith to imbue his art for eight compelling compositions. This emotive, yet accessible and celebratory set favors cunning ensemble interplay…With a diverse set of compelling compositions and an inspired ensemble, Spirit Songs could easily be considered a breakout record for Branker…there is a depth and beauty that bears fruit with each investigation...Bravo, Mr. Branker, may you continue to create and inspire.” —One Final Note

“The best works for small groups are often the ones whose written passages set up...the most inspiring moments. Trumpeter Anthony Branker understands this, and so his Spirit Songs is a blowing showcase…” —Down Beat

“Here, we find six veteran performers who interpret Branker’s modern mainstream material with flair. Each piece provides a lovely balance of melody and harmony over a substantially fluid rhythm. All the essential elements are there...Cohesion seems to be the byword of the session, as everyone works together as if they’ve known each other since early childhood. That kind of performance can only come through proper preparation, which is the teacher’s forte. The end result, of course, is his ultimate reward...Spirit Songs proves that music coming from the heart will always provide a welcome setting when brought together in a cohesive community.” — Jim Santella

“Ascent clearly reveres Branker and his heartfelt compositions; these are jazz songs you’re meant to feel, with the kind of transcendent, emotional solos that even non-jazz fans can sense contain something special.” —Audiophile Audition

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Primary Instrument

Composer/conductor

Location

Trenton

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Dr. Anthony D.J. Branker held an endowed chair in Jazz Studies, was Founding Director of the Program in Jazz Studies, Director of University Jazz Empembles, and served as Associate Director of the Program in Musical Performance at Princeton University, where he taught for 27 years. He directed an extensive list of ensembles and taught courses in jazz theory through improvisation & composition, jazz performance practice in historical and cultural context, jazz composition, the evolution of jazz styles, and the improvising ensemble. He has served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn, Estonia and has also been a member of the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, Hunter College of the City University of New York, Ursinus College, and the New Jersey Summer Arts Institute. Dr. Branker was visiting composer at the Southern Danish Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Odense/Esbjerg, Denmark; Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg, Germany; the Estonian Academy of Music & Theatre; and for the Socrates/Erasmus Intensive Programme in cooperation with the European Union, the Association of Baltic Academies of Music, and the Estonian Academy of Music & Theatre.