Cindy Lynn Bradley (born December 11, 1977) is an American

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

and

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

player and composer.

Early life

Bradley was born in

North Tonawanda North Tonawanda is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. Its population was 31,568 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan statistical area. The city is named after Tonawanda Creek, its souther ...

in upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. She already played

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, but picked up her first trumpet by accident at age nine because it was the only available instrument which she recognized in her teacher's list for school band classes. She began playing

traditional jazz Trad jazz, short for "traditional jazz", is a form of jazz in the United States and Britain that flourished from the 1930s to 1960s, based on the earlier New Orleans Dixieland jazz style. Prominent English trad jazz musicians such as Chris Barb ...

trumpet as a schoolgirl and went on to earn degrees in jazz studies at

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca (town), New York, Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a Music school, conservatory of music. Ithaca College is known for its media-related programs and entertainment program ...

in New York state and in jazz trumpet performance at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

.Interview with Cindy Bradley, July 3, 2013.

Career

Bradley released her debut album ''Just a Little Bit'' on her own label in 2007. In 2009, she signed with Les Cutmore's Trippin' N' Rhythm Records and recorded her second, ''Bloom'', with

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning producer Michael Broening at his studio in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. ''Bloom'' won instant critical acclaim and Bradley followed it in 2011 with ''Unscripted''. The hit single from that album, "Massive Transit", co-written by Bradley and Broening, remained at No. 1 on the US

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Smooth Jazz Songs chart for six weeks. ''Unscripted'' itself topped the Billboard Jazz Albums chart for two weeks. Bradley cites her major influences in jazz as fellow trumpet players

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s and a cornerstone of the Blue Note Records, Blue Note label, Morgan came to prominence in his la ...

, and

Blue Mitchell Richard Allen "Blue" Mitchell (March 13, 1930 – May 21, 1979) was an American trumpeter and composer who worked in jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock and funk. He recorded albums as leader and sideman for Riverside, Mainstream Records, and Bl ...

. When she is not touring or playing at jazz festivals, she works as a public elementary school band teacher in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. She is a longtime

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

advocate. Bradley's sixth solo album, ''The Little Things'', was released in May 2019 and her seventh, ''Promise'', in July 2023.

Awards

* 2009 Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival Debut Artist of the Year * 2010 American Smooth Jazz Awards Best New Artist * 2010 ''Smooth Jazz News'' Debut Artist of the Year * 2011 Oasis Contemporary Jazz Awards New Artist of the Year * 2011 Oasis Contemporary Jazz Awards Brass Player of the Year * 2011 ''Jazziz'' magazine's Critics' Choice of the Year for ''Unscripted''

Discography

Albums

As leader * 2007 ''Just a Little Bit'' (CB Jazz Music) * 2009 ''Bloom'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records) * 2011 ''Unscripted'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records) * 2014 ''Bliss'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records) * 2017 ''Natural'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records) * 2019 ''The Little Things'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records) * 2023 ''Promise'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records) As sidewoman * 2005 The DIVA Jazz Orchestra ''A Tommy Newsom Tribute'' (Lightyear) * 2006 Cordovan ''Highway 10 Blues'' (Cordovan Records) * 2009 ''The Very Best of Christmas'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records) * 2010 Oli Silk ''All We Need'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records) * 2011 Nate Harasim ''Rush'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records) * 2011 Elan Trotman ''Love & Sax'' (E.T. Muzik Productions) * 2012 Phil Denny ''Crossover'' (Off Sheet Music) * 2012 Jay Stewart ''Enjoy the Ride'' (CD Baby) * 2012 Elizabeth Mis ''Breakaway'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records) * 2012 Pete Gitlin ''Amplify'' (Coming Together Music) * 2012 Paula Atherton ''Enjoy the Ride'' (Dot Time Records) * 2013 Kris Brownlee ''Sincerely Yours'' (Megawave Records) * 2013 Althea Rene ''In the Flow'' (Trippin' N' Rhythm Records)

Singles

;Number-ones The following hit number-one on the ''Billboard''

Smooth Jazz Airplay The ''Billboard'' Smooth Jazz Airplay chart measures airplay spins on 15 smooth jazz radio stations in the United States. Chart history Artists with most number-one hits ;Artists with most Smooth Jazz Airplay No. 1s ''(as of May 31, 2025)'' :2 ...

chart.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Cindy 1977 births Living people American jazz trumpeters Ithaca College alumni Jazz musicians from New York (state) New England Conservatory alumni People from North Tonawanda, New York Smooth jazz trumpeters