Nick Grinder | Trombone

Nick Grinder is a trombonist and composer based in New York City.

Hailed by Slide Hampton as “an important future voice in jazz trombone” and “the best blend of saxophone-like technique with the expressive nuances of the trombone” by Alan Ferber, Nick Grinder began playing professionally at age 15 in the Bay Area, California. He was a member of many in regional High School Bands including the SF JAZZ All-Stars and the All State Band for all four years of high school.

The only child of two San Francisco artists - a former ballet dancer and visual effects engineer - he was encouraged to perform outside of school as much as possible. As a high schooler, he gigged frequently on both trombone and upright bass all throughout the San Francisco Bay area.

From 2007-2011, Nick studied at Cal State Northridge in Los Angeles with Bob McChesney, and was offered scholarship to NYU in 2011. At NYU he was an adjunct faculty member during his pursuit of a master’s degree.

Nick currently works as a sideman and leader in a number of diverse projects in New York City, and has appeared at venues such as Small's, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, The Jazz Gallery, Lincoln Center, The Jazz Standard, Rose Hall, and many other venues. He has performed internationally in Egypt, Quatar, the Netherlands, and Canada.

Nick has performed in the big bands of Alan Ferber, Darcy James Argue, Arturo O'Farrill, John Daversa, Bobby Sanabria, and the Mambo Legends Orchestra, as well as with Wycliffe Gordon, Jimmy Owens, Ralph Alessi, Donny McCaslin, Marcus Printup and many others.

He is also very active in the commercial world, where he has played in the pit orchestras of nearly two dozen Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, and has performed and/or recorded with artists such as Lorde, Lin-Manuel Miranda, St Vincent, Patti LaBelle, DMX, and Deltron 3030.

Nick's original music aims to achieve a familiarity without adhering to a status quo. Many pieces are simple head charts, with open sections for the band, others are sectioned ensemble writing.

Nick released Ten Minutes, an album of original compositions in 2014, and his second album Farallon, will be released February 22, 2019 on Outside In Music.

You can listen to “Staged” - a single from Nick’s upcoming release on Spotify and Apple Music!