Ambrose Akinmusire

Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire's music is hard to define: situating himself both in the centre and at the periphery of jazz, and crossing over into classical music and hip-hop, Akinmusire has been praised by the LA Times for "a vision of jazz bigger than camps, and broader and more intellectually restless than blowing sessions." A winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2007, he went on to perform with some of the biggest names on the New York scene, such as Esperanza Spalding, Jason Moran, and Aaron Parks. He released his debut album on Blue Note in 2011, receiving the kind of rave reviews that have become the norm for this fascinating player in the years since, with his most recent album, 2020's On the tender spot of every calloused moment, proving no exception.