James Brandon Lewis
American jazz musician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Brandon Lewis (August 13, 1983 in Buffalo, New York)[1] is an American jazz composer and saxophonist.[2]
Life
Lewis graduated from Howard University in 2006, after which he focused on gospel music.[1] He received his MFA in 2010 from the California Institute of the Arts.[1] During his graduate training, he studied the work of music theorist Joseph Schillinger. [3] In 2012, he relocated to New York City and switched to jazz, releasing his first album Divine Travels in 2014.[1] This album was followed by nine more albums, including Jesup Wagon, which was selected as Album of the Year by DownBeat critics in 2022.[4] He graduated with a PhD in Creativity from the Rowan University in Philadelphia in 2025.[5]
Discography
- Moments (2010)
- Divine Travels (2014)
- Days of FreeMan (2015)
- No Filter (2016)
- Radiant Imprints (2018, with Chad Taylor)
- An Unruly Manifesto (2019)
- Live in Willisau (2020, with Chad Taylor, Intakt)
- Molecular (2020, with Aruan Ortiz, Chad Taylor, and Brad Jones, Intakt)
- Jesup Wagon (2021, with Red Lily Quintet)
- Code of Being (2021, with Aruan Ortiz, Chad Taylor, and Brad Jones, Intakt)
- MSM Molecular Systematic Music - Live (2022, with Aruan Ortiz, Chad Taylor, and Brad Jones, Intakt)
- Eye of I (2023)
- For Mahalia, with Love (2023, with Red Lily Quintet)
- Transfiguration (2024, with Aruan Ortiz, Chad Taylor, and Brad Jones, Intakt)
- The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis (2024, Impulse! Records, with The Messthetics)
- Apple Cores (2025, Anti-)[6]
- Abstraction Is Deliverance (2025, with Aruan Ortiz, Chad Taylor, and Brad Jones, Intakt)[7]
