Composer Anthony Branker leads the group Ascent, a jazz collective formed in 2004 dedicated to the performance of original new music by its founder, which has featured some of the most significant jazz artists working today, including Steve Wilson, Ralph Bowen, Antonio Hart, Bryan Carrott, Clifford Adams, Conrad Herwig, Jonny King, Belden Bullock, John Benitez, Ralph Peterson Jr., Renato Thoms, and Wilby Fletcher. The ensemble’s first CD project Anthony Branker & Ascent: Spirit Songs was released internationally in 2006 on the Sons of Sound record label and was cited by the Jazz Journalists Association as one of the “Top 10 new jazz releases for 2006” with the composition “Imani (Faith)” being named one of the “Top 10 best new compositions of the year.”


Currently, Branker serves as a music professor and head of the jazz program at Princeton University, where he directs an extensive list of ensembles and teaches courses in jazz theory through composition & improvisation and the evolution of jazz styles. He has received composition prizes, commissions, served as composer-in-residence, and has had his music featured in performance at the Pori International Jazz Festival (Finland), St. Petersburg International Jazz Festival (Russia), Kaunas International Jazz Festival (Lithuania), Mt. Fuji International Jazz Festival (Japan), Estonia International Jazz Festival (Estonia), JVC Jazz Festival (New York), Panasonic Village Jazz Festival (New York); concert and club appearances in China, France, and Germany; as well as in performance at such venues as the Iridium Jazz Club, Sweet Basil Jazz Club, The Five Spot, New York’s Symphony Space, the Fez under the Time Café, Trumpets Jazz Club, Estonian Academy of Music, and the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture. In addition, his music has appeared on National Public Radio and was spotlighted at the International Jazz Composers Symposium at the University of South Florida. During his residency at the Estonian Academy of Music, Branker composed The Eesti Jazz Suite, a five-movement work inspired by the culture and people of Estonia. This work was premiered in November of 2006 at the academy of music as part of the concert tour of the Princeton University Jazz Composers Collective, which was co-sponsored by the Department of State of the United States, the U.S. Embassy in Estonia, and the Estonian Academy of Music. Branker’s compositions have also been performed and/or recorded by such jazz artists as Steve Nelson, Stanley Jordan, Talib Kibwe, Mark Gross, Michael Cochrane, Jann Parker, Curtis Lundy, Steve Kroon, Rick Margitza, and the Spirit of Life Ensemble, and have featured such guest soloists as Kenny Barron, Eddie Henderson, Winard Harper, John Hicks, Valery Ponomarev, Joe Ford, Cecil Brooks III, Onaje Allen Gumbs, Alex Blake, Sarah Jane Cion, and Benny Carter.