Program
Original music of Brandon Woody
Never Gonna Run away
[Untitled]
Wisdom
About the Artist
Brandon Woody
Hailed as one of the region’s top upcoming young performing artists by the Baltimore Sun, Brandon Woody started playing the trumpet twelve years ago. He grew up in East Baltimore and attended several cultural programs around the city at a very young age including the Eubie Blake Cultural Center, Peabody Preparatory, Morgan State University summer camps, and the Leith Walk Band Program. Brandon Woody is an alumnus of Baltimore School for the Arts, and during his time there he participated in programs such as the Berklee Jazz Workshop, Grammy Camp, Young Arts Competition, and Shenandoah Jazz Soloists Competition. He started his own band named UPENDO in 2015, and has performed shows all over the east and west coast, and internationally, since then.
After graduating from high school, Brandon received a full scholarship to attend the Brubeck Institute and subsequently was awarded a full scholarship to attend the Manhattan School of Music. Brandon recently moved back to Baltimore and has started working on his album.
Brandon has studied with Cecile Bridgewater and Ambrose Akinmusire; Woody’s biggest mentor is Theljon Allen. He has performed with Quincy Phillips, Ray Angry, Benny Maupin, Stefon Harris, Danilo Perez, Terri-Lyne Carrington, Steve Wilson, John Pattituci, Ed Simon, Tarus Mateen; and has performed at venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room, Lincoln Center Atrium, The Meyerhoff, Smalls Jazz Club, Fat Cat, Zinc Bar, Lyric Opera House, The Kimmel Center, Marthas Vineyard Jazz Festival, August Wilson Center, Elphilharmonie, Sydney Opera House, Monterey Jazz Festival, Bohemian Caverns, Aaron Davis Hall, Watts Tower Jazz Fest LA, August Wilson Center, Moma Ps1, The Shed, Harlem Stage, Davis Jazz Festival, and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Jazz Club Coca Cola.
Brandon has played with, and recorded for, several different rappers/singers projects, including Miranda Curtis, Sophie Marks, Solange, Emma Vie, Neptune, and Victoria Canal. Brandon is a new member of Solanges band and Standing on the Corner. He opened for the Newport Jazz Festival, and performed in the Danilo Perez Band. He performed the music of Clifford Brown with strings, and the music of Max Roach and Brown with Jon Faddis in January 2018 at Aaron Davis Hall as part of a special celebration of Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Manhattan School of Music.
Brandon has taught at the New Jersey Performance Arts Center and Highlandtown Elementary, and was co-leader for the first Peabody creative improvisation summer camp in 2018. Brandon has been curating several shows in Baltimore in the effort to simply bring people together that might not always get the chance to be together. Brandon is a Calvin Klein model and an exotic blooms sponsor. Brandon was featured on the Newport Jazz Festival and High Snobiety. Brandon was a honoree of the 2020 festival of new trumpet music. Brandon has two film scores and will be releasing his first album in 2021.