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Blue Note Records has signed the acclaimed trumpeter and composer Brandon Woody, a talented young Baltimore-born and based jazz artist who has been turning heads in the jazz world and beyond in recent years. Woody has just finished recording his debut album featuring his longtime band Upendo, which will be released in Spring 2025.

“It’s a huge honor to be a part of this label’s legacy,” says Woody. “I am excited to begin this new era in collaboration with Blue Note.”

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“Brandon is one of those rare artists who possesses both a vibrant vision and the chops and knowledge to manifest it,” says Blue Note President Don Was. “As such, he is a natural exponent of the Blue Note Ethos and we’re proud to welcome him to the family.”

Esteemed critics Marcus J. Moore and Giovanni Russonello enthusiastically name-checked Woody as an artist to watch in an episode of the New York Times Popcast earlier this year, with Russonello declaring him “the exact trumpeter of this moment, Roy Hargrove by way of Eddie Gale [and] Freddie Hubbard.” Moore added that “Brandon is the best parts of ‘old school jazz’ and ‘new school jazz,’” calling him “a person that everyone needs to be looking out for in a really big way.”

Writer Nate Chinen co-signed their Woody endorsement in a rave review of the trumpeter’s “powerfully transporting show” in Philadelphia this summer on The Gig. Chinen wrote that “Woody has racked up a ton of experience on [the Baltimore] scene — forming connections, hosting residencies, garnering accolades,” and praised both his remarkable sound (“dark and burnished, low-gloss, with a cutting edge that he can sharpen or dull on command”) and Upendo (“the band achieves a deeply impressive cohesion”).