Christopher Washburne

Chris Washburne is Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at Columbia University and the Founder of Columbia’s Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program. Chris Washburne has published numerous articles on jazz, Latin jazz, and salsa. His books include Bad Music: the Music We Love to Hate (Routledge, 2004), Sounding Salsa: Performing Latin Music in New York (Temple University Press, 2008), and Latin Jazz: the Other Jazz (Oxford University Press, 2020).

As a trombonist, he has performed on over 150 recordings, with two of them Grammy winners and seven Grammy nominated. He has been hailed as "One of the best trombonists in New York..." by Peter Watrous of The New York Times and “one of the most important trombonists performing today” by Brad Walseth. He was voted as “Rising Star of the Trombone” numerous times in the annual Downbeat Critics Poll. He has performed with Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Muhal Richard Abrams, Ruben Blades, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Justin Timberlake, Marc Anthony, Björk, They Might Be Giants, Roscoe Mitchell, Grady Tate, Jaki Byard, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Danilo Caymmi, Ran Blake, the Smithereens, Don Richols, Arturo Sandoval, Hilton Ruíz, Lawrence “Butch” Morris, Roswell Rudd, Walter Thompson, RMM Allstar Salsa Band, Eddie Henderson, Anthony Braxton, Ray Barretto, John Cale, Baba Olatunje, Candido, Freddie Cole, Maria Schneider Big Band, Chico O’Farrill, Leslie Uggams, Dicapo Opera Company, St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra, Bang on a Can All-stars, SEM Ensemble, American Microtonal Festival Chamber Orchestra, and the Dinosaur Annex under the direction of Gunther Schuller, among many others. He is the leader of the highly acclaimed SYOTOS Latin jazz band, FFEAR, and the Rags and Roots jazz band.

Columbia Degrees:

• PhD, Ethnomusicology