Vlog 25 – Nick Finzer

Award winning musician Nick Finzer is a jazz trombonist and composer whose musical prowess is firmly planted with one foot in the past and another leading to the future. In January of 2013 Nick released his recording debut as a bandleader “Exposition” on his new label Outside in Music. “Exposition” presents Finzer’s unique musical lens, featuring ten original compositions that draw on the multifaceted influences that have shaped his musical development.

The onset of Nick’s love for jazz came through an exploration of Duke Ellington’s music during his high school years. Tunes like “Harlem Airshaft” and “In a Sentimental Mood” started him on an irreversible musical journey. These experiences culminated in a performance of Elllington’s music as part of the Essentially Ellington Festival hosted by Jazz at Lincoln Center, which ignited Nick’s ambition to move to New York City to play music.

During this time Finzer also came under the tutelage of former Jazz at Lincoln Center Trombonist, Wycliffe Gordon. This relationship developed into a four year commission project in which Gordon wrote four pieces to feature Nick during his undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music. While studying at Eastman, Nick was able to play with many musicians who came through Rochester, New York including engagements with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Walt Weiskopf, John Clayton and Slide Hampton.

Since moving to New York City in 2010, Finzer has completed a Masters Degree from The Juilliard School, shared the stage with the likes of Frank Wess at Dizzy’s Club, Lew Tabackin and Terrell Stafford at The Blue Note, and continues to lead his own bands both around the city and across the country. While at Juilliard Nick had the opportunity to work with many mentors including Frank Kimbrough, Carl Allen, Ray Drummond, and studied under jazz trombone innovator, Steve Turre.

Nick was selected as a finalist in the 2010 International Trombone Association’s Carl Fontana Jazz Trombone Competition and in 2011 was the winner of the Eastern Trombone Workshop National Jazz Trombone Competition, where he performed alongside Jim Pugh, Bill Reichenbach, and Steve Wiest.

Finzer is also a committed educator. In 2012 Nick’s new Non Profit, the Institute for Creative Music won a “Great Classrooms” grant award from the Plum Creek Foundation. Nick currently serves as Co-Artistic Director for the Institute for Creative Music, which is dedicated to the education and dissemination of jazz and creative music across the nation. Since IfCM’s founding in 2011 Nick has lead workshops, masterclasses, and residencies spanning from coast to coast.

Independently, Nick has worked with students from the Eastman School of Music, Penn State, Ithaca College, Gonzaga University, and Eastern Washington University, to name a few. He has also served on the faculty of the Eastman Summer Jazz Camp, and Juilliard Jazz Summer Camps in West Palm Beach, Florida and Ephraim, Utah.

Nick continues to perform, compose, and teach around New York City while maintaining an active touring schedule, and formulating new projects. Finzer is determined to continually develop his artistry from the lineage of the music, while being honest to his musical voice and personality.