Ben Branch

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Ben F. Branch (* 1924 in Memphis (Tennessee) ; † 27. August 1987 in Chicago ) was an American tenor saxophonist of Rhythm & Blues and bandleader, who later worked as an entrepreneur.

Live and act

Branch studied music at Memphis State University . Together with his brother Thomas on the trumpet, he was in the wind section that BB King accompanied on his first recording in 1949 for Bullet Records . In 1952 he took on again with BB King. He spent most of the 1950s as the band leader of the house band The Largos at Curry's Club in Memphis, with whom the young Isaac Hayes also performed . In the early 1960s, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn became the first white member of Branch's Big Band.

The civil rights activist Branch led the Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference , which performed at fundraisers for Martin Luther King and Operation / PUSH and recorded two albums. On April 4, 1968, he was one of the witnesses to the murder of King, who had just discussed the music program for the evening event with him.

In 1982 he founded the American Music Hall of Fame , a music school in Chicago. A few months before his death, he performed at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1987 , where he led the backing band of Rosco Gordon.

Branch also made records with the Mar-Keys , Brother Jack McDuff , Etta James and Little Milton .

Businessman

Branch was also president of Doctor Branch Products Inc., a soft drink producer in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1983, the company was the first 100 percent African American-owned beverage company in the United States.

Discographic notes

  • The Mar-Keys: Beach Bash / Bush Bash - Wayne Jackson (tp) Ben Branch (ts) Floyd Newman (bars) Booker T. Jones (org) Steve Cropper (g) Donald "Duck" Dunn (el-b) Al Jackson (d) (Stax 45-156; 1964ll>
  • Operation Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir: The Last Request (Chess; 1968)
  • Brother Jack McDuff: Gin and Orange (1969)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Blues Access Interview BB King (1999)
  2. ^ The Memphis Sound: Lost and Found
  3. ^ Rob Bowman, Soulsville, USA: the story of Stax Records Music Sales Group, 2003 ISBN 9780825672842
  4. ^ Billboard August 22, 1970
  5. ^ Rosco Gordon with the Ben Branch Band. explorechicago.org, archived from the original on June 9, 2012 ; accessed on October 15, 2017 .
  6. ^ Atlantic Records Discography: 1964
personal data
SURNAME Branch, Ben
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Branch, Ben F.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American saxophonist
DATE OF BIRTH 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Memphis (Tennessee)
DATE OF DEATH August 27, 1987
Place of death Chicago