Cindy Bradley

Trumpeter Cindy Bradley is a successful artist and educator with a bent toward smooth jazz and instrumental pop. After making her full-length debut with 2007's Just a Little Bit, she topped the Billboard smooth jazz chart for the first time a year later with Bloom. Establishing regular appearances on the overall jazz chart thereafter, she reached the jazz Top Five with albums including 2014's Bliss and the R&B-tinged The Little Things from 2019. Born in North Tonawanda, New York, in 1977, Bradley took piano lessons in her youth and by age nine was playing trumpet in the school band. In her teens, she became interested in jazz and eventually enrolled in the jazz studies program at Ithaca College in New York State. After graduating from Ithaca, she earned a degree in jazz trumpet performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston. Since leaving school, Bradley has pursued both a performance and teaching career, and when not playing live and recording, she works as an elementary band teacher in New Jersey. She released her independent debut album, Just a Little Bit, in 2007, followed by Bloom in 2009. Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Michael Broening, Bloom was a commercial success, hitting number one on the Billboard smooth jazz chart. In 2011, Bradley issued Unscripted, which returned her to the number one spot, also cracking the Top 20 of the overall jazz chart. She reached the Top Five of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart in 2014 with her fourth studio album, the Broening-produced Bliss. Natural, her fourth release for the Trippin 'n' Rhythm label and fifth album overall, arrived in 2017 and reached number six. Collaborating again with Broening, she had her highest-charting album yet with 2019's The Little Things, which peaked at number four on the jazz chart. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi