Sn 1. Ep. 5: Empowerment Through Improvisation: A Conversation with Dr. Anthony Branker

Dr. Anthony Branker is an adjunct professor of jazz studies at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts where his teaching responsibilities include graduate and undergraduate courses in jazz historiography, composition & arranging, theory, improvisation, directing the Avant Garde Ensemble and Jazz Lab Big Band, and serving as a university supervisor for pre-service music education students during student teaching placements. Previously, Dr. Branker was a member of the faculty at Princeton University for 27 years, where he held an endowed chair in jazz studies, was the founding director of the program in jazz studies, and was associate director of the program in musical performance until his retirement in 2016. As a composer, he has recorded for Origin Records and has nine albums as a leader, including his recent release for What Place Can Be For Us? A Suite in Ten Movements for Origin Records. Johanna had the honor of being one of his students at Hunter College, CUNY. In this conversation, Dr. Branker shares his pedagogical approaches to musical instruction, how he uses writing to support knowledge building and metacognitive learning in jazz improvisation, and also discusses his recent album, What Place Can Be For Us? A Suite in Ten Movements for Origin Records.