Acclaimed jazz trumpeter Jason Palmer, an assistant professor in Berklees Ensemble Department, has released more than a dozen collaborative instrumental tracks, with accompanying representative videos, in honor of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was an innocent EMT killed in March by police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, executing a no-knock warrant on her home.
Palmer was inspired by saxophonist John Ellis, who made a similar video to honor George Floyd, whose death by police violence has inspired protests and calls for racial justice around the world. Its the least I can do with what I believe is my calling at this time in my life in order to educate people on who Breonna is and the steps that need to be taken to ensure that her death is not in vain, said Palmer.
Students Jill Scott Cover Is a Call for Justice
Music therapy major Keira Smiths version of Scotts Watching Me was penned in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
To launch the project, Palmer sent out a call to friends and musicians he admires and several artists quickly responded about making contributions to accompany the solo track he had recorded. There is a small melodic figure that represents each letter of her name, said Palmer, explaining the concept. She was shot eight times, so I did my best to leave eight seconds between each figure [for us] to play expressively. At the end, there is 26 seconds of space to improvise. She was 26 when she passed.
Collaborators on the different versions of the track include faculty pianists Kevin Harris and Jason Yeager, faculty guitarist David Fiuczynski, and drummer Austin McMahon.
Tracks also came in from musicians in various parts of the U.S.-California, New York, Washington, and Louisiana-and around the world, including England, France, and the Netherlands. Contributors include saxophonists Caroline Davis, Noah Preminger, and John Ellis; bassists Max Ridley M.M. '17, Edward Perez, Zack Lober, and Michael Janisch; drummer Tyson Jackson B.M. '19; vocalist Rachel Bade-McMurphy; and pianist Carmen Staaf.
Palmer encouraged the musicians to play as much as they'd like over the track-in the spaces and over the held chords in the trumpet part. The collaborations produced powerful and strikingly different results on each version of the track, even those with similar instrumentation.
I'm hoping this project will serve as a piece that can help in leaving the window open for systemic change to happen, in Breonna's case and throughout society, said Palmer. Ive already had several people message me, thanking me for bringing attention to Breonna and carrying through by signing petitions, donating, etc., because they saw one of my collaborations.
Watch Jason Palmer's collection of videos: Justice for Breonna Taylor Duos in Dedication.
Video of #SayHerName #BreonnaTaylor Musical Dedication Collaboration with Kevin Harris
About Jason Palmer Trumpeter, composer, and educator Jason Palmer is one of the most in-demand musicians of his generation. He has performed with artists including Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Smith (the organist), Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and others. In addition to performing on over 40 albums as a sideman, Palmer has recorded 13 albums as a leader on labels Ayva, Steeplechase, Newvelle, and Giant Step Arts. He has toured in over 30 countries and is a 2019 Chamber Music America (CMA) New Jazz Works recipient.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
Faculty Notes: Spring 2020 Recent accomplishments, releases, and events by Berklee faculty.
Berklee Acts Were Everywhere at Newport Jazz Newport Folk Festival's hip older sibling featured tons of Berklee alumni, students, and faculty.
Daedelus Joins Berklee Electronic Production and Design Department The acclaimed artist, DJ, and producer has worked with Diplo, Death Cab for Cutie, Flying Lotus, and more.
More from Berklee Now
Most Popular
Alumna Kirbys Viral Video Helped Bring Down Aunt Jemima Brand The video has been viewed 4.7 million times and has been credited with pushing Quaker Oats to scrap the brand of breakfast products.
Latest
Jason Palmer Releases Duo Collaborations in Honor of Breonna Taylor The faculty trumpeter collaborated with more than a dozen musicians, including Berklee faculty and alumni, on duo tracks dedicated to the EMT who was killed in March.
Berklee Creates Music and Health Repository The colleges Libraries and Learning Resources and Music and Health Institute have created the first-ever music and health repository in the field.
Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for 2020 Emmy Awards Nominees include several prominent composers, sound mixers, and music editors for a wide range of programs.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
Acclaimed jazz trumpeter Jason Palmer, an assistant professor in Berklees Ensemble Department, has released more than a dozen collaborative instrumental tracks, with accompanying representative videos, in honor of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was an innocent EMT killed in March by police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, executing a no-knock warrant on her home.
