Rick Braun
International Recording & Performing Artist

"When I take the stage I need to feel like the horn I am playing is able to deliver dark warm tone, great intonation and look amazing. My signature model horns were handmade by Joe and Yasha Marcinkiewicz right here in the USA in Canby, Oregon. A lot of craftsmanship and love goes into each and every handmade horn that leaves the Marcinkiewicz factory, and I am thrilled to be playing their instruments."

Rick's Trumpet features a two-toned finish; heavy satin silver body with gloss gold slides and inside the bell. Rick's Flugel is finished in satin gold with gloss accents.

About Rick

Nobody on today’s contemporary urban jazz scene knows more about the power of perfect, timely partnerships—or what it takes to keep the #1 hits coming—than Rick Braun. Drawing from the title of the trumpeter, composer and producer’s stylistically eclectic, envelope-pushing debut on Artistry Music, All It Takes is finding the groove with his friends and fellow greats.

After launching the millennium in Shake It Up mode with Boney James and later hooking up with Kirk Whalum and Norman Brown as BWB, Braun reached even greater heights in 2007 when he and saxman Richard Elliot—who were partners at the time in the independent label ARTizen Music Group—teamed up for RnR. Their duet project hit #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart immediately upon its release and its catchy title track single was an instant smash, staying at #1 on Radio and Records’ (R&R) Contemporary Jazz airplay chart for over two months. After touring as part of Jazz Attack with Peter White and Jonathan Butler in 2005 and 2007, Braun and Elliot teamed up for the genre’s biggest tour in 2008.

The success of RnR capped an amazing run throughout the 2000s by Braun, who has also become a top genre producer over the years, working with Elliot, Antoine, Willie & Lobo, David Benoit and Jeff Golub, among others. Braun set a record at the 2002 National Contemporary Jazz Awards in San Diego by winning a total of five trophies, including Best Male Artist, Best Album (Kisses in the Rain, which hit #1 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Chart), Song of the Year (the title cut) and Best Brass Player. He also shared a Best Collaboration award with (then Warner Bros. label mate) Boney James for their 2000 hit Shake It Up, which reigned at #1 on the Billboard chart for 11 weeks. Braun next huddled up with Kirk Whalum and Norman Brown for BWB, which starred the #1 hit title track “Groovin’,” and a popular U.S. tour in the Fall of 2002.

Even those who have followed Braun’s rise as a solo artist since the release of 1993’s Intimate Secrets are sometimes surprised by the diversity of the Allentown, Pennsylvania native’s résumé before he found his niche in contemporary jazz. While attending the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, Braun and some classmates formed the jazz-fusion combo Auracle, which released two albums. His path toward solo stardom (“I also wrote my share of Rick Springfield-like songs because I was also a good singer,” he laughs) led him to some prestigious behind the scenes roles, first as a pop songwriter ("Here With Me" was a Top 20 hit for REO Speedwagon in 1988), then as a touring sideman with Rickie Lee Jones, Tina Turner, Glenn Frey, Natalie Cole, Crowded House, Tom Petty and War.

For more videos, visit Rick Braun's YouTube channel.

Rick Braun's NEW Album "ALL IT TAKES"

Visit Rick's website for more clips, extended bio, and tour information.

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