Described by Chicago Jazz Magazine as “…one of the most brilliant and imaginative contemporary composers of mainsteam jazz…stimulating and emotive original music with a rare blend of sophistication and organic spontaneity”, Porter’s music has also been described as “fluid, expressive, and magnificent” by Down Beat Magazine.
Charlie Porter holds a degree from The Juilliard School where he studied under the tutelage of famed trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis. Porter also holds a degree from the Manhattan School of music in jazz and classical performance. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the Paris Conservatory. Among many awards to his credit, Charlie was the first trumpeter to win first place in both the classical and jazz divisions of the National Trumpet Competition. As a composer, he has been commissioned by Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Foundation
Charlie has toured the world as a side-man and band-leader in jazz and also as a classical soloist and chamber musician, performing and recording with many notable musicians and groups over the last twenty years ranging from jazz to classical artists as well as world-music greats. He is also a founding member of the Grammy-nominated electro-acoustic Absolute Ensemble, directed by Kristjan Jarvi. Charlie’s collaboration on opera star Joyce DoDonato’s crossover album “Songplay” earned him a Grammy Award for 2019. Though he has recorded many albums as a side-musician, Porter has recorded three albums to date as a leader that have garnered high praise. His 2019 release “Immigration Nation” was voted one of the best albums of the year by DownBeat. Currently, Porter is an adjunct professor of trumpet at New York University.