Ben F. Branch (January 8, 1928 – August 27, 1987)Ben Branch, 59, Leader in Civil Rights, Business
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', August 28, 1987 was an American entrepreneur,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

tenor saxophonist, and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

. Although possibly better known as being the last person

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

spoke to moments before his assassination in 1968, Branch had been a jazz bandleader for many years.

Musical career

With his brother, Thomas, on trumpet, Branch was a member of the horn section on

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

's first recordings for

Bullet Records At least five record labels with the name Bullet Records have existed. Bullet Records, Nashville, 1946-1952 The earliest Bullet Records was a record label based in Nashville, United States, which was started in 1946 by Jim Bulleit and C.V. Hit ...

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 Phineas Newborn Jr. (December 14, 1931 – May 26, 1989) was an American jazz pianist, whose principal influences were Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Bud Powell. Biography Newborn was born in Whiteville, Tennessee, and came from a musical fami ...

on piano; his father played drums, and his brother,

Calvin Calvin may refer to: Names * Calvin (given name) ** Particularly Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States * Calvin (surname) ** Particularly John Calvin, theologian Places In the United States * Calvin, Arkansas, a hamlet * Calvi ...

, played guitar with me. I had

Tuff Green Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

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 Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. (December 21, 1934 – January 29, 2009) was an American Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter whose genres ranged from Rhythm and blues, R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, and soul jazz. Crawford was ...

and

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and 1 ...

. 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 Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

with his first professional gigs. Future M.G.'s bassist

Donald "Duck" Dunn Donald "Duck" Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012) was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session bassist for Stax Rec ...

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 (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. A few months before his death, Branch appeared with his band at the 1987

Chicago Blues Festival The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June, that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the Chicago, Illinois, City of Chicago Department of Cu ...

backing

Rosco Gordon Rosco N. Gordon III (April 10, 1928 – July 11, 2002), sometimes billed as Roscoe Gordon, was an American blues singer, pianist, and songwriter. He is best known for his hit songs "Booted," (1952), "No More Doggin'" (1952), and " Just a Littl ...

. Branch also recorded with

Brother Jack McDuff Eugene McDuff (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz er ...

and

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single " We're Gonna Make It". His other hits include " Baby, I Love ...

, and

Phil Upchurch Philip Upchurch (born July 19, 1941) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and bassist. Career Upchurch started his career working with the Kool Gents, the Dells, and the Spaniels, before going on to work with Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush, and ...

. Branch held a degree in music from

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

Business career

Branch was president of Doctor Branch Products Inc., founded in 1983, in Chicago, Illinois, the nation's only

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

-owned soft-drink manufacturing company. The company eventually signed a $355 million agreement with Kemmerer Bottling Group, bottler of several well-known soft drinks, including 7Up, to distribute the Doctor Branch Products beverages.

Operation Breadbasket

As musical director for the SCLC's

Operation Breadbasket Operation Breadbasket was an organization dedicated to improving the economic conditions of black communities across the United States of America. Operation Breadbasket was founded as a department of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference ...

, he led the Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir that performed benefits for Dr.

and Operation/PUSH. Just moments before being

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

, Dr. King had just asked Branch to play a Negro spiritual, " Precious Lord, Take My Hand," at a rally that was to have been held two hours later. King's exact words (which were also the last words that he ever spoke) were "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", whi ...

, in the introduction to the title track of his 1969 album ''

Country Preacher ''Country Preacher'' is a live album recorded by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in 1969. Recorded at an unidentified church meeting of the Chicago chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Operation Breadbasket, the album spen ...

'', makes a specific mention of Branch in recognition of his work as leader of the Operation Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir.Thomas, Lorenzo & Lynn Nielsen, Aldon ''Don't Deny My Name: words and music and the black intellectual tradition''
University of Michigan Press, 2008 While musical director of the Breadbasket Orchestra and Operation/PUSH, he arranged for gospel singer

Deleon Richards Deleon Richards (born September 18, 1976) is an American gospel singer. In the 28th Annual Grammy Awards, she was nominated for Best Soul Gospel Performance - Female. Richards reportedly had a long relationship with singer R. Kelly in the 1990s. ...

to perform at the Chicago Stadium (later the United Center).

Discography

*1964: "Beach Bash"/"Bush Bash" -

The Mar-Keys The Mar-Keys, formed in 1958, were an United States, American recording studio, studio session musician, session musical ensemble, band for Stax Records, in Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960s. As the first house band for the label, their backing m ...

- Wayne Jackson (tp) Ben Branch (ts)

Floyd Newman Floyd Newman (born August 17, 1931) is a saxophonist, session musician and bandleader. As a baritone sax player, he was long associated with Stax Records, and as a member of The Mar-Keys’ horn section and the Memphis Horns. Born in Memphis, in ...

(bars)

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known art ...

(org)

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Ot ...

(g)

(el-b)

Al Jackson Alvin Neill Jackson (December 26, 1935 – August 19, 2019), affectionately referred to as "Little" Al Jackson, was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1959 to 1969. His 43 wins with the New York Mets were the franchi ...

(d) (Stax 45-156) *1968: ''The Last Request'' - Operation Breadbasket Orchestra and choir (Chess) *1969: '' Gin and Orange'' – Brother Jack McDuff

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branch, Ben 1928 births 1987 deaths American bandleaders American jazz tenor saxophonists American male saxophonists American blues saxophonists American rhythm and blues musicians African-American saxophonists Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. 20th-century American musicians 20th-century saxophonists American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians