Ambrose Akinmusire


Ambrose Akinmusire is an American jazz trumpeter.

Biography

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Akinmusire was a member of the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble, where he caught the attention of saxophonist Steve Coleman who was visiting the school to give a workshop. Coleman hired him as a member of his Five Elements band for a European tour. Akinmusire was also a member of the Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.
Akinmusire studied at the Manhattan School of Music before returning to the West Coast to take a master's degree at the University of Southern California and attend the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in Los Angeles.
In 2007, Akinmusire was the winner of both the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, two of the most prestigious jazz competitions in the world. The same year he released his debut recording Prelude... to Cora on the Fresh Sound New Talent label. He moved back to New York City and began performing with Vijay Iyer, Aaron Parks, Esperanza Spalding, and Jason Moran, taking part in Moran's innovative multimedia concert event In My Mind: Monk At Town Hall, 1957. It was also during this time that he caught the attention of Bruce Lundvall, then President of Blue Note Records.
Akinmusire made his debut on the Blue Note label in 2011 with the album When the Heart Emerges Glistening, featuring his quintet of tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Harish Raghavan, and drummer Justin Brown.
In 2014 he won the North Sea Jazz Festival's Paul Acket Award. Akinmusire's third album, entitled The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint, was released on March 11, 2014.
Akinmusire is featured on the last track of Kendrick Lamar's 2015 release To Pimp a Butterfly.
His sixth studio album On the Tender Spot of every Calloused Moment, again with his quartet of longtime bandmates – Sam Harris, Harish Raghavan, and Justin Brown, was released in spring 2020.

Selected discography

As leader

YearTitleLabel
2008Prelude... to CoraFresh Sound
2011When the Heart Emerges GlisteningBlue Note/EMI Records
2014The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to PaintBlue Note/Capitol/Universal Records
2017 Blue Note/Capitol/Universal Records
2018Origami HarvestBlue Note/Capitol/Universal Records
2020On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused MomentBlue Note

As sideman

YearArtistTitleLabel
2001Steve ColemanResistance Is FutileLabel Bleu
2002Aaron ParksShadowsKeynoteRecords
2003Vijay Iyer & Mike LaddIn What Language?Pi Recordings
2006Walter Smith IIICasually IntroducingNew Talent Spain
2007Alan PasquaAnti Social ClubCryptogramophon
2007Sara GazarekReturn to YouNative Language
2007Josh RosemanNew Constellations: Live in Vienna Accurate Records
2008John EscreetConsequencesPosi-Tone
2008Esperanza SpaldingEsperanzaHeads Up
2008Danny GrissettFormCriss Cross Jazz
2009Le Boeuf BrothersHouse Without a Doorlbjazz
2009Roy Hargrove Big BandEmergenceEmArcy
2010John EscreetDon't Fight the InevitableMythology Records
2010Walter Smith IIIIIICriss Cross Jazz
2010David BinneyBarefooted TownCriss Cross Jazz
2011David BinneyGraylen EpicenterMythology Records
2011Vince MendozaNights on EarthHorizontal Jazz
2011Chris DingmanWaking DreamsBetween Worlds
2012Mette JuulMoon on my Shoulder
2012Jack DeJohnetteSound TravelsGolden Beams/eOne
2013Dayna StephensThat Nepenthentic PlaceSunnyside
2013Gerald ClaytonLife ForumConcord
2013YellowjacketsA Rise in the RoadMack Avenue
2016Wolfgang MuthspielRising GraceECM
2017Blue Note All-StarsOur Point of ViewBlue Note
2018Camilla BattagliaEMIT: Rotator TenetDodicilune
2018Allison Miller & Carmen StaafScience FairSunnyside
2018Laila BialiLaila BialiACT
2018Raymond AngryOneJMI
2018Mary HalvorsonCode GirlFirehouse 12
2018Wolfgang MuthspielWhere the River GoesECM
2019Brad MehldauFinding GabrielNonesuch

Footnotes