Hailey Brinnel is a trombonist, vocalist, and educator based in Philadelphia. At the age of 12 she began performing throughout New England with her father Dave Brinnel. Now at 26 she has performed at prestigious venues around the world, having played with artists such as Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Ingrid Jensen, Anat Cohen, and Pell. As part of the Temple University Jazz Band led by Terell Stafford, she has played and recorded alongside many of today's top jazz artists, including Ken Peplowski, Jimmy Heath, Ann Hampton Callaway, Jon Faddis, Luis Bonilla, Wycliffe Gordon, René Marie and Dick Oatts. In addition, she shared the stage with Maurice Hines and The DIVA Jazz Orchestra as part of the national tour of the Hines' off-Broadway production "Tappin' Thru Life". Brinnel was a finalist in the 2021 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.
Although she is a young artist, Brinnel has already performed at acclaimed venues such as Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the XPoNential Music Festival, The Lake George Jazz Festival, World Cafe Live, The Kennedy Center , The Kimmel Center, The Washington Women in Jazz Festival in Washington D.C., Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and The North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam.
Her debut album, I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles peaked at #13 on Amazon's 'Jazz New Release' chart, and #44 on the website's Jazz Best-Seller chart. Brinnel's music is rooted firmly in the original intentions of 1920s-1940s jazz, arranged such that the energy is preserved but new life is undoubtedly breathed into them. Acclaimed trumpeter Terell Stafford praises Brinnel for “honoring the history of this music” and sounding “so pure and soulful” that “I can’t stop listening!”
As an educator, Brinnel has worked in a variety of settings spanning early childhood, elementary general, secondary instrumental and vocal, private lessons, master classes, as well as collegiate-level education courses. She is currently on faculty at The University of the Arts, The Kimmel Center, and works as a guest clinician to bring jazz education to classrooms throughout the city. She was also a featured clinician in the 2020 National Jazz Conference with her workshop A Melodic Approach to Scat Singing.