James Brandon Lewis

James Brandon Lewis is one of the most acclaimed tenor saxophonists and composers of his generation, named DownBeat Critics Poll Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Born in 1983 in Buffalo, New York, he grew up immersed in the music of his father's church before studying at Howard University and earning an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, where his mentors included Charlie Haden and Wadada Leo Smith. He moved to New York in 2012, and his album Jesup Wagon with the Red Lily Quintet was voted DownBeat Album of the Year in 2022. His playing reaches back to Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman while pushing toward a sound entirely his own.