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2017 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 849
Commending J. Plunky Branch.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 3, 2017
Agreed to by the Senate, February 9, 2017

 

WHEREAS, J. Plunky Branch of Richmond, a saxophonist, songwriter, and music and film producer has made numerous contributions to cultural life in Virginia and the United States and is a positive force for social harmony throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, Plunky Branch discovered his passion for intercultural music while he was a student at Columbia University in New York and made it his life’s mission to empower people through music; and

WHEREAS, equally talented at funk, jazz, rhythm and blues, African, reggae, gospel, and rap, Plunky Branch has released 25 albums through his independent record label, N.A.M.E. Brand Records in Richmond; and

WHEREAS, Plunky Branch has toured the world, building a broad and loyal fan base in the United States, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and England, where his song “Every Way But Loose” was a Top 10 hit in the 1980s; and

WHEREAS, in addition to touring Ghana as a cultural specialist for the United States Information Agency, Plunky Branch has explored musical opportunities in Japan and Brazil and researched and produced a documentary film on Afro-Cuban music; and

WHEREAS, Plunky Branch has opened shows for such musical icons as Patti LaBelle, Ray Charles, and Earth, Wind & Fire and delighted audiences at the New Orleans World’s Fair, the National Black Arts Festival, and the Hampton Jazz Festival; and

WHEREAS, one of the founders of the Richmond Jazz Society, Plunky Branch has inspired students as a lecturer and educator, serving as the director of the Jazz Ensemble at Virginia Union University and an instructor of music history at Virginia Commonwealth University; and

WHEREAS, Plunky Branch has served as a panelist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and he was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force on Promotion of the Arts; and

WHEREAS, Plunky Branch was featured in the Library of Virginia’s Strong Men & Women in Virginia History series in 2015, and he released his autobiography, PLUNKY: JuJu Jazz Funk & Oneness, at a special event at the Library of Virginia in June 2016; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend J. Plunky Branch for his work to unite people through a shared love of music; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to J. Plunky Branch as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for his exceptional musical legacy.