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James "Plunky" Branch
Saxophonist J. Plunky Branch is an experienced performer, songwriter, and music and film producer. He is president of his own independent record label, N.A.M.E. Brand Records, through which he has released 30 albums. With his group, Plunky & Oneness, he has appeared in concert with some of the biggest names in Black music, including Patti Labelle, Ray Charles, Earth Wind & Fire, Yellow Jackets, Frankie Beverly & Maze, LL Cool J, Chuck Brown, and more. His song “Every Way But Loose” was a top-ten soul music chart hit in London in the 1980’s and his hit single, “Drop,” was released in 2007. Today he continues to produce and tour with his band playing rousing funk, jazz, African, rap and R&B.
Plunky’s European touring has taken him to England, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He twice toured Ghana, West Africa, once for the Ghana National Commission on Children, and again as a cultural specialist for the U.S. Information Agency. He has performed in London and Paris; traveled to Brazil; and visited to Cuba to research and produce music recordings and the documentary film, Under the Radar – A Survey of Afro-Cuban Music.
Plunky & Oneness performed at the New Orleans World’s Fair, the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta (four times) and twice at the Capital Jazz Festival in Maryland. They have appeared at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, Lincoln Center in New York the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and in other prestigious venues. For more than 20 years Plunky has toured continually with support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA).
In 2018, J. Plunky Branch received the prestigious “50 For 50 Award” from the VCA as one of the 50 outstanding arts persons in Virginia of the last 50 years. In 2015 he was selected as one of the Strong Men & Women in Virginia History by the Library of Virginia.
In addition to being a veteran musician and composer, J. Plunky Branch has served as an administrator, lecturer and teacher. Plunky is a two-time recipient of National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Fellowships and he was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force for the Promotion of the Arts in Virginia. He attended Columbia University in New York City and he has taught at Virginia Union University and Virginia Commonwealth University, both in Richmond.
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James "Plunky" Branch: Afrobeat, Funk e Spiritual Jazz
by Angelo Leonardi
Da circa un decennio il jazz statunitense e britannico vede l'emergere di giovani protagonisti che spezzano i confini tra i generi “colti" e popolari, operando una sintesi sfaccettata tra le molte espressioni della black music. Un torrente tumultuoso che viene alimentato dalle spinte politico-identitarie della comunità afroamericana (la rinascita dell'Afrofuturismo, il movimento Black Lives Matter), che infonde nel linguaggio del jazz moderno elementi di Afrobeat, Rhythm & Blues, Funk, Hip-Hop, fino a inglobare alcune espressioni della club culture e della ...
Continue ReadingOneness Of Juju: African Rhythms 1970-1982
by Gareth Thompson
Growing up in segregated Richmond, Virginia, the first creative love of James Branch's life was chemistry. Which seems fitting enough given all the musical compounds he would later contrive. As a performer, Branch started out with woodwind before latching onto sax at Columbia University, New York. Also immersed in left wing politics, he moved to California and was hunted by the FBI for three years while living under an assumed name, freelancing as a musician. Branch's intriguing story ...
Continue ReadingAnnouncing Star-Studded Line-up Of 2025 TD James Moody Jazz Festival, November 8-23, 2025
Source:
AMT Public Relations
New Jersey’s Largest Jazz Festival Returns to Newark for 14th Year Hip-Hop Legends & Leading Poets Unite for Powerful Fusions of Music and Social Justice Festival Artistic Advisor Christian McBride Leads His Big Band with Andra Day, José James, and Ledisi The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) today announced details of the 14th annual TD James Moody Festival, taking place November 8-23, 2025. Co-curated by NJPAC’s Jazz Advisor Christian McBride, this year’s festival, which draws ...
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Christian McBride Gives Fans A Preview Of McBride’s World At Sea Via New Musical Collaborations With Samara Joy, Ledisi, Cécile Mclorin Salvant And José James - All Are Scheduled To Perform On The Cruise, Sailing January 20-27, 2026
Source:
G Sibley
Nine-time GRAMMY Award-winning bassist, composer and bandleader Christian McBride is giving fans a glimpse into the creative energy and collaborative spirit that will defineChristian McBride’s World at Sea, his week-long music cruise that sails from January 20-27, 2026. Starting this summer and continuing through October, McBride unveils a series of projects with artists who will join him on the cruise that will take place aboard the Celebrity Summit (departing from Ft. Lauderdale with stops in Jamaica and Grand Cayman). Earlier ...
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Perfection: Harry James in the Late '50s/Early '60s
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Two big bands that knock me out from the late 1950s and early 1960s are the ones led by Count Basie and Harry James. Both could swing the house sideways, but both knew when enough was enough. Basie, of course, invented the concept of just enough, but James's decade-straddling band is often overlooked for the same quality. James's near-stalker passion for Basie is well known ("Two O'Clock Jump) but less known is that during this period, they shared the same ...
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Bob James And Dave Koz Team Up On Duets Album, Just Us, Set For March 7 Release
Source:
Dave Koz
Just Us – An Intimate Evening Of Songs And Stories – Kicks Off On March 13 With Sold-Out Show In Traverse City, MI, James’ Hometown Contemporary jazz icons Bob James and Dave Koz mark a unique milestone in both their careers with the aptly titled duo album Just Us, scheduled for release on March 7 via Just Koz Entertainment. A piano and saxophone only collection of fresh originals and colorful re-imaginings of Great American Songbook standards, its inspired format—sans the ...
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Announcing The 13th Annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival Presented By The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, November 7-24, 2024
Source:
AMT Public Relations
Festival Hightlights Paquito D’ Rivera with New Jersey Symphony (Nov 7, 8 & 10) Tribute to Funk! with Bilal, Nona Hendryx, Christian McBride, Savion Glover, Vernon Reid, George Clinton, and More (Nov 14) NJMEA All-State Jazz Band + Choir (Nov 15) Tyshawn Sorey Trio featuring Aaron Diehl and Harish Raghavanand Sandbox Percussion (Nov 15) WBGO Children’s Concert with Davell Crawford (Nov 16) Madeleine Peyroux (Nov 16) Cindy Blackman Santana (Nov 17) Jazz Jams @ Clement’s Place (Nov 21) Bethany Baptist ...
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James Blood Ulmer, One Of The 'Greatest Guitarists Of All Time,' In Cambridge, MA on November 16, 2023
Source:
Mary Curtin Productions
James Blood Ulmer is among the most distinctive and influential electric guitarists who has made a career built on left turns and reinvention. One of the most expressive guitarists on the planet, Blood is one of the undisputed keepers of the flame for the “harmolodic movement” created by Ornette Coleman. He takes those fundamentals and applies them at will to any genre he pursues, from rootsy Americana, rock, hyper funk, outside electric, Hendrix-inspired cosmic blues. Blood’s music is rooted in ...
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Announcing The 12th Annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival Presented By The New Jersey Performing Arts Center November 3-19, 2023
Source:
AMT Public Relations
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) today announced the line-up of the highly anticipated 12th annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival, running from November 3-19, 2023. This year’s program showcases both legendary and emerging artists exploring jazz through the lens of Afrofuturism, Latin music, dance, soul, and more. Presented by way of unique genre-crossing collaborative concerts, this year’s program reflects on the amalgamation of jazz both in its musical form as well as in its force for and response ...
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Backgrounder: James Moody - Return From Overbrook
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
This James Moody CD came out in 1996 and covered two great albums by the saxophonist and flutist—Last Train From Overbrook (tracks #1-10; recorded in 1958) and Flute 'N' the Blues (tracks #11-20; recorded in 1956). Both were released on Chess's Argo label. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Moody, these two albums are great introductions. For those of you who know Moody's work well, you probably haven't heard them in some time and they'll serve as a ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: James Moody
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating James Moody's birthday today!
For over six decades, saxophone master James Moody has serenaded lovers with his signature song Moody's Mood for Love an improvisation on the chord progressions of I'm in the Mood for Love. Born in Savannah, Georgia on March 26, 1925, and raised in Newark, New Jersey, James Moody took up the alto sax, a gift from his uncle, at the age of 16. Within a few years he fell under the ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: James Carter
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating James Carter's birthday today!
Sometimes it takes an extraordinary talent to inspire an unprecedented piece of music. For Puerto Rican-born composer Roberto Sierra, the epiphany struck in the midst of a tenor saxophone solo by James Carter, who was appearing as the featured soloist with legendary soprano Kathleen Battle. Long fascinated by the horn, Sierra immediately realized he had encountered a master capable of playing anything he could imagine. Working closely with Carter over several ...
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James "Plunky" Branch
Instrument: Saxophone
Born: July 20, 1947
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