Don Braden Biography

(medium length, rev. May 2025)

A world-class saxophonist, flutist, composer and educator, Don Braden has a jazz career that has spanned over 45 years. He has toured with jazz greats Betty Carter (appearing prominently on her GRAMMY-Award-winning album, Look What I Got), Wynton Marsalis, Tony Williams, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Haynes and many others, and has performed in locales as diverse as Carnegie Hall, Saturday Night Live, Harvard University (where he studied engineering as an undergrad) and at countless jazz festivals and clubs around the globe. He has played on more than 100 CDs as a sideman and has produced 25 as a leader, the most recent being his critically acclaimed Earth Wind and Wonder Volume 2, which reached #1 on the JazzWeek.com national radio airplay chart, and Joris Teepe/Don Braden At PizzaExpress Live – In London. See www.DonBraden.com for more info.

Braden has composed over 150 pieces for ensembles ranging from duo to full symphonic orchestra, including an orchestral performance/commission for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and over 100 songs for jazz combos. His compositions appear on dozens of CDs, and several major TV shows and indie films. He has received the Doris Duke Foundation New Works composer’s award, and has served on adjudication panels for that foundation, SURDNA, the Downbeat Student Music Awards, and others.

Don is a highly experienced educator. Currently, he is the Director of the Harvard Jazz Combo Initiative, teaches part-time at the Prins Claus Conservatoire in the Netherlands, and is the Music Director of both the Litchfield Jazz Camp (since 1998) and the Texas Jazz and Blues Camp (since 2016). He has toured as “Guest Jazz Master” with the Herbie Hancock Institute. He ran NJPAC’s Wells Fargo Jazz For Teens Program for 15 years, the jazz program at Montclair State University for several years, and led the Harvard University Monday Jazz Band for three years. Don believes that jazz is a great music style to study, because it reflects so many important aspects of life, including improvisation, discipline, teamwork, leadership, listening skills, democracy, supportiveness and creativity.

Don has had several articles published over the years, including “Take Excellent Care: Health and Fitness for Musicians”, in the June 2018 issue of Downbeat magazine.

For more info, see www.DonBraden.com