The Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet

The “New Yorker” has described him as a scintillating new trumpeter and band leader with a unique, shimmering spark to his playing. He raises the bar still higher himself: what he wants to do is compose a song, a melody so well-written there’s no need to improvise on it! Ambrose Akinmusire’s music is dynamic, spectacular and contemporary, his technique superb but understated, his sound a combination of rare timbres and vocal-like directness.

Ambrose Akinmusire grew up in Oakland, California, where he was born on May 1, 1982. A member of the Berkeley Jazz Ensemble as a teenager, his talent was spotted by Steve Coleman, one of the most important jazz saxophonists of the last 40 years. He would go on to tour Europe with Coleman aged just 19, while still a student at the Manhattan School of Music. By the time he completed his Ph.D. at the University of Southern California, he was already playing “less like a major talent and much more like an established, top-tier musician”.

The next stop would be Los Angeles, where he studied at the side of jazz legends like Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Terence Blanchard. In California, he developed a unique personal style which avoided superfluous virtuosic flourishes, ranged from the tuneful to the aggressive, and was instantly recognizable. After received a number of awards and glorious reviews, he settled in New York where he played with top jazz artists including Vijay Iyer, Aaron Parks, Esperanza Spalding and Jason Moran. It was during this phase that he attracted the attention of Blue Note Records, a development which has put a new perspective on his career.