Nic Chaffee is accomplished as a musician, as an educator, and as an audio engineer. Born and raised in Long Beach, CA, he holds degrees in Jazz Studies and Composition from California State University, Long Beach, where he studied trumpet with Charley Davis, jazz improvisation with Mark Massey, and composition with Dr. Bruce Miller and Dr. Carolyn Bremer. While attending CSULB, Nic was awarded the Tom Talbert scholarship for jazz performance and the Paul C. Lindsay scholarship for composition.
Nic works regularly in the Los Angeles area as a free lance professional trumpet player with various ensembles playing nearly every style, including jazz, blues, funk, rock, and salsa. He plays trumpet for the critically acclaimed band OO Soul, and also performs on bass and guitar with the Carneval Kings (formerly The Helmut Stein Experience). In addition to participating in several cross-country tours, Nic has appeared on stage at venues such as the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, the Grove of Anaheim, the House of Blues, and the Disneyland Resort.
He has also engineered literally hundreds of concerts and recordings for colleges, churches, and independent bands. Nic has been the head audio engineer for the Robin Cox Ensemble since 2002, and has also worked on sound crews for professional ensembles such as the Long Beach Municipal Band and Vocalogy. Currently Nic is employed as a Project Manager in the Pro Audio division of Yamaha Corporation of America.
Nic's diverse background of experiences gives him a unique perspective on music. Because he has worked as a performer, composer, and engineer, he is able to balance several points of view and create experiences pleasing to all involved.
New Carnevel Kings CD now available! Click here to check it out:
Check out these other great discs I played on, too:
