Guest ArtistsGilbert Castellanos, trumpet

With nearly 100 recording and film credits, Guadalajara-born San Diego-based musician Gilbert Castellanos has earned international recognition as a composer, curator, educator, arranger and top-call jazz trumpeter. Named as one of the most innovative jazz trumpeters in DownBeat Magazine’s “25 for The Future,” Castellanos has spent over 30 years touring the globe and recording both as a solo artist and with the most renowned names in the industry – Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Horace Silver, Christian McBride, Lewis Nash, Oscar Hernandez, Les McCann, Diana Krall, Willie Nelson, Michael Buble, Natalie Cole and The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, to name a few.

Castellanos first found interest in the trumpet at 6 years old, and began his career as a professional musician at age 11. At age 15, Castellanos shared the stage at the Monterrey Jazz Festival with legendary jazz trumpeter and bandleader Dizzy Gillespie, then went on to Berklee College of Music and the California Institute for the Arts while touring with and recording albums as a member of the award-winning band Black Note.

With nods from Los Angeles Times, DownBeat Magazine, the Jazz Journalists Association, San Diego CityBeat, KPBS, San Diego Union-Tribune, the City of Los Angeles and more, Castellanos has fostered and maintains collaborations with the San Diego Symphony, the San Diego Museum of Art, the San Diego Ballet, KSDS Jazz 88.3 FM, The Westgate Hotel, Jazz @ The Jacobs, Panama 66, as well as with a growing and impressive roster of organizations and world-renowned musicians. His expanding list of accolades and awards range from the “Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Play” for his work on The Federal Jazz Project to several prestigious Jazz Album of the Year, Best Jazz Musician and Artist of the Year awards at the San Diego Music Awards.

Gilbert Castellanos continues his commitment to “keeping jazz alive,” creating new and innovative ways to raise awareness of the American art form, cultivating new audiences with his dynamic live performances and investing in young musicians to ensure the future of jazz. His Young Lions Jazz Conservatory – an award-winning music education program – provides youth in the San Diego community both professional music mentorship and instruction, as well as public performance opportunities.

Learn more at www.jazzgc.com.