J. Plunky Branch

Virginia-based saxophonist James "Plunky" Branch is a prolific improviser, producer, and bandleader, whose career has straddled avant-garde jazz, funk, and R&B. Branch first emerged with his socially conscious African fusion ensemble Juju, releasing A Message from Mozambique on Strata-East in 1973. In the '80s, he scored a Top Ten hit in England with his track "Every Way But Loose," featuring his group Plunky & Oneness. Branch eventually founded his own N.A.M.E. Brand Records and has continued to release albums, including 1992's Spiritual Sounds Within My Soul, 2001's Got to Be Phunky, and 2006's Cold Heat. Along with performing, Branch has lectured and taught at various institutions and in 2012 was named one of the Richmond Public School system's Living Legacies.