The Drop: Braxton Cook

The GRAMMY Museum is thrilled to welcome Braxton Cook to the Museum’s intimate 200-seat Clive Davis Theater for an evening discussing his new album on the eve of its release, Not Everyone Can Go, his career, creative process, and more, with a special performance to follow.

Braxton Cook is one of the most versatile musicians of our time, defying genre and logging a head-spinning list of collaborators and credits (including Taylor Swift, Jon Batiste, Giveon, Masego, and more). He’s toured the world multiple times over – including a Blue Note Tokyo debut in 2024 – earned an Emmy Award and NAACP Image Award nomination, and has made six appearances on NPR’s famed Tiny Desk Concert. 

When artist, singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Braxton Cook started working on the album that would become Not Everyone Can Go, his life was going through many transitions that he just couldn’t ignore. After a whirlwind year touring across Europe, Asia, and the U.S., Cook reflected on the difficulties of juggling his career with family life. “It was a lot to manage,” he says. He noticed a theme emerging and came to the conclusion: It was OK to let go of things that weren’t serving him any longer. Transitions were natural as he stepped into fatherhood. “It was only pushing me more in that direction of understanding,” he continued. “There’s grief that comes along with having to let certain things go to make time for the things I truly value.”

One can hear Cook breaking through on Not Everyone Can Go, a mix of jazz and R&B that feels indebted to similar hybrids of yesteryear. Musically, the album conjures images of bright evening sunshine, when the temperature begins to cool. Not quite Quiet Storm, instead, Not Everyone Can Go dabbles between the margins, which won’t surprise those who’ve followed Cook to this point. Across albums like Somewhere In Between, No Doubt, and Who Are You When No One Is Watching?, he’s made a career of blurring the lines between genres, landing on a sound that isn’t one thing, in particular. While that’s made his music tough to pin down, that also makes it all the more intriguing. That you can’t label it just R&B or just jazz lends to the music’s attraction.

Lyrically, Not Everyone Can Go follows the trek of conflict, from where a romantic relationship faces challenges to when the couple makes it to the other side. The album soundtracks that journey without placing blame on one person or the other. Instead, Cook assesses his own role in the disconnect, as if doing the necessary self-work to show up fully for his significant other. The album’s second half incorporates love songs about the rediscovery of affection, taking sonic cues from late-‘90s R&B, with its slow, body-rolling pace and lush electric keys. “The last part of the album is the action for me,” Cook said. “It’s the act of rebuilding these relationships the way that I want and the way that I see them, and that’s what those love songs are about. ‘Bad’ is very much about taking my wife back out on a date. As if we were just courting each other all over again.”

Ultimately, Not Everyone Can Go is about embracing change, that when seasons arrive where moves are inevitable, you have to lean into them. “This particular record is a reminder to myself and others to take stock in what it is you have and be grateful for the breath in your lungs. It’s like, Man, I’m alive. I got up today. I have two beautiful kids. And, it’s going to be alright.”

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Member Check – In: 6:30pm

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Show Time: 7:30pm

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BAG POLICY: please note that only bags 9 inches x 6 inches and smaller will be allowed for this event. Vinyl, memorabilia, gifts, etc. will also not be allowed inside the building.   

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