Brandon Sanders

A vibrantly gifted jazz drummer, Brandon Sanders is known for his hard-swinging, yet sophisticated approach to acoustic post-bop jazz. Raised on the West Coast, he first garnered attention in the 2000s after moving to New York City and playing with artists like Joe Lovano, Mike LeDonne, and Esperanza Spalding. In 2023, he made his solo debut with Compton’s Finest.
Sanders was born in 1971 in Kansas City, Kansas, and moved with his mother to Los Angeles at the age of two. Settling in Compton, he grew up in a musical family with his mother who played violin and stepfather who played trombone. His stepfather introduced him to jazz and by his teens Sanders was amassing his own record collection. While music was a growing passion, he also played basketball, eventually becoming a walk-on practice player for the University of Kansas while studying communications, earning both his undergraduate and master’s degrees.
After college he worked in Kansas for a while. It was during this period that he decided to learn how to play drums, primarily teaching himself, but he was also mentored by local jazz drummer Todd Strait, who focused his attention on players like Max Roach, Art Blakey, and Philly Joe Jones. He steadily improved and ultimately returned to school, studying at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. There he played regularly at noted Boston jazz spots like Wally’s Jazz Cafe and the Wonder Bar.
Around 2004, he moved to New York City where he joined the ranks of the city’s elite jazz improvisers, working with luminaries like Joe Lovano, Mike LeDonne, Peter Bernstein, Jeremy Pelt, Esperanza Spalding, and others. He also took a job as a school counselor and coached basketball and tennis. In 2023, he made his long-awaited debut as leader with Compton’s Finest. Produced by drummer and fellow Compton alum Willie Jones III, the album also featured contributions by vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, tenor saxophonist Chris Lewis, pianist Keith Brown, and bassist Eric Wheeler. ~ Matt Collar