Ben Branch
| Ben Branch | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ben F. Branch |
| Born | 1924 |
| Died | August 27, 1987 |
| Genres | Jazz |
Ben F. Branch (1924 – August 27, 1987) was an American entrepreneur, jazz tenor saxophonist, and bandleader.
Although possibly better known as being one of the last people Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to moments before his assassination in 1968, Branch had been a leading bandleader for many years.
With his brother, Thomas, on trumpet, Branch was a member of the horn section on B.B. King's first recordings for Bullet Records in 1949. "My very first recordings were for a company out of Nashville called Bullet, the Bullet Record Transcription company," King recalls. "I had horns that very first session. I had Phineas Newborn on piano; his father played drums, and his brother, Calvin, played guitar with me. I had Tuff Green on bass, Ben Branch on tenor sax, his brother, Thomas Branch, on trumpet, and a lady trombone player."
Branch recorded with King again on an early 1952 Memphis recording with the B.B. King Orchestra with, among others, Hank Crawford and Ike Turner.
For much of the 1950s, Branch was the bandleader for the house band, the Largos, at Curry's Club in North Memphis, which provided a young Isaac Hayes with his first professional gigs.
Future M.G. bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn was the first white member of Branch's big band, in the early 1960s.
In 1982 Branch founded the American Music Hall of Fame, a private music school in Chicago.
A few months before his death Branch appeared with his band at the 1987 Chicago Blues Festival backing Rosco Gordon.
Branch also recorded with Brother Jack McDuff and Etta James, Little Milton and Phil Upchurch.
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