Charlie Caranicas is a New York-based trumpet player specializing in traditional and mainstream
jazz. He has graced the stages of concert halls and music clubs all over the world. Charlie has
been described as a “wonderfully musical, notably articulate” trumpet player with a “beautiful
sound” and “impressive choice of notes” (Clive Griffin, Jazz Improv); “lyrical and emotive”
(George Fendel, JazzScene); a “crispy Clifford Brown” (Still Another Jazz Show, 88.7 FM,
Sacramento, CA); a “joy to hear” and “capable of making famous standards his own” (Scott
Yanow, All About Jazz); playing with “a glossy brilliance, never straining for effect but making
us sit up and take admiring notice” and “gets under the skin of the song” (Michael Steinman,
Jazz Lives).
Charlie co-led the house band at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City and he was the
trumpet soloist with the renowned Rainbow Room Orchestra. Charlie has also performed with
bands as varied as Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, the Onyx Club Sextet, the Karrin
Allyson Group, the Chico O’Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, the Vanguard Orchestra, the
Flying Neutrinos, the Grove Street Stompers, Sarah King, Terry Waldo, and the Lester Lanin
Orchestra. Charlie has been in the pit and on stage for numerous Broadway shows. Charlie has
performed on dozens of albums, including several of his own. Charlie has also received a grant
from the National Endowment for the Arts.