A soul full of jazz
Brandon Woody is a prominent jazz trumpeter from Baltimore, M.D.
Brandon Woody fell in love with the trumpet as a kid.
Growing up in Northeast Baltimore, Maryland, Woody, 24, attended the Baltimore School for the Arts. Honing his skills in high school lead him to be accepted to the Manhattan School of Music. While there, he founded UPENDO in 2015, a jazz band that has now toured internationally and performs along the east coast almost every week.
Woody dropped out of college after losing a scholarship but made good use of the connections he had made in NYC. As a young man, Woody jumped into touring with Solange Knowles for a short stint in Hamburg, Germany. Returning to Baltimore, he taught brass in the Highlandtown Elementary/Middle schools for three months.
Woody told Lawrence Burney at The Baltimore Banner, “I don’t think that Black music really lives in an institution. It can’t,” he said. “How can Black music even be taught? It’s not really taught and this thing, it’s life experience, it’s struggle, it’s success, it’s in the streets, it’s a social experience. It’s social music."
Although Woody doesn’t have a paper degree proving his proficiency in trumpet, he navigates the intricacies of jazz music with ease. The trumpet is an extension of himself with a bright tone and incredible precision.
He is active all around the Baltimore area whether performing with UPENDO, working as a composer, or curating projects in museums. He recently had the opportunity to cast musicians and act as band leader in the Apple TV series “Lady in the Lake,” set to be released in fall of 2023.
Woody and UPENDO will be performing on February 2, 2023 as part of Sound Business Inc.’s Uptown Black History Month Performing Arts Series. Woody will be on stage with Troy Long (piano/keyboard), Michael Saunders (electric bass), and Kweku Sumbry (drums). Click here for more information on the schedule of events happening all month.
An album is in the works for UPENDO but no release date has been set yet. Follow Woody on Instagram @brandonwoody for updates on all of his projects and performances.