James Brandon Lewis

Tenor Sax  |  USA

Acclaimed saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis has received accolades from The New York Times, NPR and Ebony Magazine, who hailed him as one of the “7 Young Players to Watch” in today’s scene.  Lewis has shared stages with such icons as Geri Allen, Benny Golson, Wallace Roney, GRAMMY Award-winning singer Dorinda Clark Cole, and intrepid artists including William Parker, Hamiet Bluiett, Hamid Drake, Ravi Coltrane, Jimmy Heath, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Joe Lovano , Dave Douglas, and many others .

Lewis has released three albums as a leader. On his latest, Days of FreeMan. Lewis “makes it sound natural to play roaming, experimental funk” (The New York Times) by drawing inspiration and re-interpreting the sound foundations of 1990s hip-hop. He is a co-founder of “Heroes Are Gang Leaders” with poet Thomas Sayers Ellis—a collective of poets and musicians—and a member of the collective “Dark Matter,” a conceptual musical collaboration exploring that which is invisible but is detected by it’s gravitational effects. Lewis attended Howard University and holds a Master of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts.