Ambrose’s conceptual extension into a new musical language....

Ambrose’s conceptual extension into a new musical language is never to the exclusion of beauty. As one who listens intently, he values the fertility of a pause, of communication, of tension. Ambrose began conceptualizing early as a musician, theorizing and experimenting as a catalyst for development. He seeks other genres of music to analyze and expose, drawing inspiration from such musicians as Bjork and Chopin.

mbrose’s music restructures accepted notions of jazz in a way that reflects his ability to recognize nuances, multiplicities, and patterns. First playing piano at the age of three, his familiarity with music began long before putting his mouth to a trumpet. He is relentlessly opposed to stagnation, seeking movement in both his music and his life.

Before he was eighteen, Ambrose had already performed with such famed musicians as Joe Henderson, Joshua Redman, Steve Coleman, and Billy Higgins. After graduating Berkeley High School, he moved to New York to begin a scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Vincent Pinzerella from the New York Philharmonic, Dick Oatts, Lew Soloff, and Laurie Frink.

Throughout his studies, Ambrose continued to tether audiences to his concepts and his sound, performing publicly with Lonnie Plaxico, Stefon Harris, Josh Roseman, Vijay Iyer, Charlie Persip, the Mingus Big Band, and the San Francisco Jazz Collective, to name only a few. His exposure to dynamic modes of playing and to musicians with accumulated experiences only promoted the development of his own distinct musical style.

Ambrose is a recent graduate of the Masters program at USC, and also the Monk Institute, Ambrosee’s instructors include Terence Blanchard, Billy Childs and Gary Grant. In the past year, he has worked with such artists as Jimmy Heath, Jason Moran, Hal Crook, Bob Hurst, Terri Lynne Carrington, Ron Carter, and Wallace Roney, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Most recently Ambrose is the winner of both the 2007 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition and 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition.

As for a conclusion, there is none. Ambrosee’s musical trajectory continues to grow in more than one direction, drawing from the most unconventional sources, unraveling the most comfortable conceptions of limitation. His persistent reevaluations and his aspirations to evolution and beauty carry it to an entirely new space within itself.

Discography
Leader
Ambrose Akinmusire, Prelude to Cora (2008)/Fresh Sounds

Sideman
Esperanza Spaulding, Esperanza (2008)/Heads Up
Alan Pasqua, The Anti-Social Club (2008)/Cryptogramophone
Sara Gazarek, Return to You (2006)/Native Language
Walter Smith, Casually Introducing Walter Smith III (2005)/Fresh Sounds
Josh Roseman, Constellations Live: in Vienna (2005)/Accurate Records
Vijay Iyer, In What Language (2001), Pi Recordings
Aaron Parks, Shadows (2001)
Steve Coleman, Resistance is Futile (2001)/Label Blue Records

Tour
Ambrose Akinmusire - Monterey Jazz Next Generation Festival, Monterey, CA > April 9-10, 2010

Ambrose Akinmusire & Yaron Herman String Project Harish Raghavan, bass Marcus Gilmore, drums - Rubin Museum, New York, NY > April 19, 2010

Mark Turner Quintet & Marcus Gilmore, drums Smalls - New York, NY > June 16-17, 2010


Ambrose Akinmusire Group & Mark Turner- tenor sax, Jason Moran-piano, Harish Raghavan, bass, Justin Brown-drums - The Jazz Standard, New York, NY > June 25, 2010
http://www.mariahwilkins.com/akinmusire/