Jason Branscum

Links

Where to listen, and the people this music was made with.

Listen and buy

  • Buy direct with Lightning
    Pay with Bitcoin over Lightning and the files are yours immediately. No account, no card, nothing taken out on the way to the musician. Works the same from anywhere in the world.
  • Bandcamp
    All five releases, physical editions, and score PDFs. The best place to support the work directly.
  • Apple Music
    Stream Beyond the Walls of the World, A Different Kind Of Freedom and the singles.
  • Direct Current
    Jason’s own software: a Lightning checkout for musicians selling records straight to listeners, with no platform cut and no waiting on a payout. It powers the buy page here.
  • two little tracks
    Odd electro, nothing to do with the jazz. Two pieces, about ten minutes. Buy with Lightning.
  • Discogs
    Session and writing credits catalogued, including Mary Adam 12’s 2012.
  • YouTube
    Performance video, sessions and solo trombone.
  • metalbaby
    The band Jason led in Columbus, Ohio. Four releases, all compositions his, Jason on trombone, with Happy Chichester and Fran Litterski on vocals, Colin Martin on saxophone, Aaron Quinn on guitar and Lisa Bella Donna on Moog. Mastered by Storm9000.

What I’m doing now

  • Mrs. Lanterman’s Trinkets
    An interactive investigation with an original score. Written and performed with Lisa Bella Donna, who plays drums and guitar and recorded it.
  • Direct Current
    The Lightning checkout Jason built for musicians selling records straight to listeners: no platform cut, no waiting on a payout. It runs the buy page on this site.
  • Tough Friend
    Matt McAllister’s Cincinnati octet, formed 2018, playing his compositions: chamber writing and free playing carried by a rock rhythm section. The self-titled record came out in April 2026, with Jason on trombone and flute. He is also in McAllister’s quartet, the Dancers, with Josh Kline and Aaron Jacobs.
  • Mambo Combo
    Mike Sharfe’s Latin jazz group: standards through a Cuban lens, with John Zappa on trumpet, Tim McCord on saxophone and flute, Brian Batchelor-Glader on piano and Baba Charles Miller on percussion. Sharfe is a Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Famer and founded the Blue Wisp Trio.
  • Matt Waters
    Cincinnati singer-songwriter. Jason gigs and records with the band regularly. Waters has opened for Luke Combs, AJR, Judah and the Lion, Judy Collins, Tim Reynolds and Here Come the Mummies, and has played Paycor Stadium for the Cincinnati Music Festival and songwriters’ rounds at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.

Bands & collaborators

Musicians and groups from Beyond the Walls of the World and other projects.

  • Brandon Coleman
    Guitar, string arrangements and production. Recorded, mixed and mastered Beyond the Walls of the World at the Golden Mean in Cincinnati.
  • Michael Mavridoglou
    Cincinnati trumpeter, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, and a bandmate in the Cincy Brass. He has played with Umphrey’s McGee, Huey Lewis, Father John Misty and Vida Blue. Jason plays trombone on his “Legend of Prisoner’s Lake”.
  • Enrique Infante
    Peruvian-born singer-songwriter and founder of Dejavu Latin Fusion Rhythms. Jason plays on Canciones Ajenas.
  • Donald “Thump Daddy” Payne
    Columbus funk bassist, formerly of The Crowd Pleasers on Westbound Records. Jason plays on Check Again, A Player Just Step In.
  • Lisa Bella Donna
    Composer, recording artist and modular synthesist. Jason plays trombone, trumpet, tuba and E-flat horn on Endless Roads and Next Time Around.
  • The Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra
    Non-profit eighteen-piece orchestra dedicated to jazz as a living art form. Jason plays Trombone III on We Are The CCJO.
  • StringSource
    The string quartet on Beyond the Walls of the World: Kanako Shimasaki and Mariko Shimasaki, violins; Shelby Thompson, viola; Phillip Goist, cello. Founded by Kanako Shimasaki, the ensemble’s members have performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Sydney Opera House, the BBC Proms and the Kyoto City International Foundation.
  • Nasty Nati Brass Band
    Previous. New Orleans-style brass band led by trumpeter Mike Wade. Trumpets, trombones, saxophones, tuba, drums and percussion playing jazz, funk, soul and go-go. Reviewed in DownBeat. Albums include Nasty Nati Brass Band and Bengal Anthem.
  • The Cincy Brass
    Previous. Cincinnati nonet playing funk arrangements of pop, R&B, rock and hip-hop. Jason played trombone alongside Josh Kline on tenor saxophone and Tom Buckley on drums, both of whom also appear on Beyond the Walls of the World.

Still to add: Aaron Jacobs (bass guitar), Marc Fields (trombone), Justin Dawson (contrabass), Dan Dorff (drums) and Martin Hintz (viola).

Artwork

  • Fernando Utreras
    Cover artwork for Beyond the Walls of the World.

Press

Reviews and interviews have moved to their own page, where each one is real indexed text rather than a list of bare URLs.

Read the press