Rising jazz trumpeter and composer Brandon Woody releases his deeply personal debut studio album, For The Love Of It All, today via Blue Note Records. The project showcases six original compositions performed by his band Upendo — featuring Troy Long (keys), Quincy Phillips (drums), and Michael Saunders (bass) — alongside special guests Imani Grace and Vittorio Stropoli. The album is now available on exclusive color vinyl, standard black vinyl, CD, and digital platforms.
Rooted in Baltimore and raised on its musical traditions, Woody approaches For The Love Of It All not just as a debut, but as an offering. The album pulses with emotional intensity and spiritual resolve, fusing jazz, gospel, and experimental improvisation. From the soulful “Never Gonna Run Away” — a tribute to faith and resilience — to the poignant “We, Ota Benga,” Woody’s trumpet acts as both anchor and guide through narratives of Black history, love, and memory.
Highlight track “We, Ota Benga” serves as the album’s emotional core. Inspired by the Congolese man who was infamously exhibited at the Bronx Zoo in 1904, the nearly nine-minute piece reclaims Benga’s humanity, moving from freedom to fracture and, ultimately, a musical restoration. It’s a powerful reminder of jazz as a tool of both resistance and remembrance.
Tracks like “Wisdom; Terrace on St. Paul St.” and “Beyond the Reach of Our Eyes” explore themes of legacy and return, echoing the African diasporic principle of Sankofa — to retrieve what has been lost in order to move forward. These moments reinforce Woody’s role as both innovator and cultural steward.
Described by The New York Times as “the best parts of old school and new school jazz,” Brandon Woody emerges not just as a talent to watch, but as an artist with a clear voice and vision. With For The Love Of It All, he positions himself firmly within the lineage of jazz greats — with a sound that’s urgent, reverent, and unmistakably his own.
