Saxophonist J. Plunky Branch is an experienced performer, songwriter and music and film producer. He is president of his own independent record label, N.A.M.E. Brand Records, through which he has released 25 albums. At one time Plunky was a studio musician for television's top-rated sitcom, "The Cosby Show.” His song “Every Way But Loose” was a top-ten soul music chart hit in London in the 1980’s. He has appeared on avant-garde jazz albums by Pharaoh Sanders, Hamiet Bluiett and others. Nowadays Plunky spends his time leading his band onstage playing rousing funk, R&B, jazz, African, reggae, gospel and rap and making music in his recording studio.
His latest releases are the CD album Never Too Late, the 5-CD compilation Plunky & Oneness 2012 Collectors Box Set; and his DVD Plunky & Oneness of Juju - Live In Paris. Plunky’s European touring has taken him to England, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He twice toured Ghana, West Africa, once for the Ghana National Commission on Children, and again as a cultural specialist for the U.S. Information Agency. Recently he has performed in Paris; traveled to Brazil; and twice to Cuba to research and produce music recordings and a documentary film, Under the Radar – A Survey of Afro-Cuban Music.
With his group, Plunky & Oneness, he has opened shows for Patti Labelle, Ray Charles, Earth Wind & Fire, Yellow Jackets, and Frankie Beverly & Maze, LL Cool J, Chuck Brown, and more. Plunky & Oneness performed at the New Orleans World’s Fair, the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta (four times) and twice at the Capital Jazz Festival in Maryland. For more than 15 years Plunky has toured continually with support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA).
Plunky’s career accomplishments are as varied as his music and his diverse interests, which include: African art and culture, history, digital technology, politics and the media. In addition to being a veteran saxophonist and composer, J. Plunky Branch has served as an administrator, lecturer and teacher. He has been a frequent arts panelist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Plunky is a two-time recipient of NEA Jazz Fellowships and he was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force for the Promotion of the Arts in Virginia. He has been Director of the Jazz Ensemble at Virginia Union University as well as an instructor of Afro-American Music History at Virginia Commonwealth University, both in Richmond.
Plunky is a two-time recipient of NEA Jazz Fellowships and he was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force for the Promotion of the Arts in Virginia. He has been Director of the Jazz Ensemble at Virginia Union University as well as an instructor of Afro-American Music History at Virginia Commonwealth University, both in Richmond.
Recognized by Richmond Magazine as Musician of the Year for 1999, Plunky is a sought after artist-in-residence and performer for public schools systems. He has written film scripts, journals of his travels, poems and over 400 songs.
Throughout his career Plunky has entertained and taught thousands, and in the process, has developed a broad and loyal following. During his 1987 West African tour, critics proclaimed Plunky "one of the greatest living saxophonist!" In a context where rhythm, ritual, power and emotion reign supreme, he just might be!
For further information contact: J. Plunky Branch, 2218 Rosewood Avenue, Richmond, VA 23220, 804-355-3586, Fax 804-355-7240, Email: plunkyb@aol.com
N.A.M.E. BRAND RECORDS 2218 ROSEWOOD AVENUE RICHMOND, VA 23220 (804)355-3586 E-MAIL
plunkyb@aol.com/ WEB: www.plunkyone.com PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release/ 12/15/13 - Contact: J. Plunky Branch, 804-397-9099
New CD Album Release: Plunky & Oneness / Never Too Late - Release Date: 2/11/2014
Never Too Late, the new album by Afro-funk, jazz veteran, J. Plunky Branch and his group Plunky & Oneness bridges genres and generations. The ambitious 16-song collection includes neo-soul, nu-jazz, and hip-hop songs about love, wisdom and purposeful partying. With Never Too Late Plunky & Oneness prove that eclecticism is no vice and variety can be its own reward.
Produced by Plunky and his talented son, J. “Fire” Branch, Never Too Late is a collage of musical cross references and transmutations. The album begins with neo soul love songs, and it ends with go-go and funk. But, it is the meaningful message music in the middle that is the hip-hop jazz, heart and soul of the album. This is cutting edge stuff produced by Fire sampling Plunky’s songs from the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s and dubbing in new live performances and looped beats. This is father and son using past and present techniques to create future music.
Funk is grown folks music. Fused with hip-hop, it can be music that delivers the word. On Never Too Late Plunky plays the role of the OG, the “Original Griot”, using lyrics to drop knowledge and to encourage and inspire. He is the “Old Guru” who spits, spouts, and speaks on philosophies of love and life, and advocates getting funky with it. The songs, riding on waves of urban rhythms, live music and deejay effects, convey lessons learned, urging us to “Be About the Future” while feeling our “Tribal Vibe” and acknowledging “We are One.”
Never Too Late, Plunky’s 25th album, is primarily new and original music; however there are two cover songs and a bonus track in the collection. John Legend’s “Tonight (Best You Ever Had),” the album’s first single, is a saxophone-led go-go instrumental with sexy female vocal hooks. Frankie Beverly’s classic, “We Are One,” also rendered as a sax and vocals combo, is still a soulful call to unifying love. The bonus track, “Tableau Noir,” is collaboration with famed French rapper, Akhenaton of the IAM Band. It is a rap song about dark times in the world being like images on a blackboard which can be erased.
The core Oneness group members breathe life into the music on the album. The sultry and soulful Charlayne “Chyp” Green is featured on vocals throughout. Young, VA-based musicians, keyboardist, J. L. Harris and guitarist, Jose Pomier, create shimmering, melodic tonal centers within the grooves. Bassist P. Muzi Branch, Plunky’s brother and long-time collaborator, is still thumping and pumping the bottom of the funk – in sync with Fire’s hip-hop beats and electronic percussion.
Time travel happens when rhythm meets change, when vibrations are altered and re-ordered, when fault lines are crossed, when generations are bridged, when memories create new visions. Never Too Late is all about timeless lessons of love and life and locomotion. And it’s even more about Plunk phunk & the oneness thereof…
Never Too Late CD Album: 16 Tracks, Total run time: 70 minutes Genres: Nu-jazz, funk, Hip-hop, R&B, soul
Musical Cross-References: Robert Glaspar /Jill Scott/ John Coltrane/Archie Shepp/Anita Baker/D’Angelo/Pharaoh Sanders/Phyllis Hyman/Saul Williams/Fela/ Sly Stone/Maze/George Clinton/Erika Badu/ Chuck Brown/Maceo Parker/ Steel Pulse/ Gil Scott Heron/Dwele/Lalah Hathaway/ Amel Larrieux
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