Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet

About

Ambrose Akinmusire is a Californian trumpeter and composer who keeps pushing jazz past its own edges. His sound is poetic and full of imagery, pulling in bits of hip hop, pop, spoken word and classical music. His album Origami Harvest takes its name from the Japanese art of paper folding, which suits a body of work that seems to keep folding and unfolding to show new layers underneath. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and studied with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Over the years he has worked with Esperanza Spalding, Jason Moran and Snarky Puppy, and his trumpet can be heard on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly. His music builds layered landscapes and tells stories from his own community, honouring the tradition of Black ingenuity without letting it box him in.