Wayne Wallace

Five-time Grammy nominee, WAYNE WALLACE, is one of the more respected exponents of African American-Latin music in the world today. He is known for the use of traditional forms and styles in combination with contemporary music, and has earned recognition with his recent placement in the Downbeat Critics Polls under the trombone and producer categories. Mr. Wallace is an accomplished arranger, educator, and composer with compositions for film and television. He has also received grants form the Creative Work Fund, the National Endowments for the Arts, the Lila Wallace Foundation, the Institute for Advanced Study and the San Francisco Arts Commission.

Mr. Wallace has performed, recorded and studied with acknowledged masters of the Afro-Latin and Jazz idioms such as Aretha Franklin, Bobby Hutcherson, Earth Wind and Fire, Pete Escovedo, Santana, Julian Priester, Conjunto Libre, John Santos, Whitney Houston,Tito Puente, Steve Turre, John Lee Hooker, Con-funk-shun, Francisco Aguabella, Manny Oquendo and Libre, Max Roach, and Orestes Vilató. This experience has provided a solid foundation for Mr. Wallace’s current explorations of the intersections of diverse cultural styles, and rhythmic concepts.

Born and raised in San Francisco, California, May 29th 1952, at an early age Wayne was exposed to Blues, Country and Western, and Jazz . The fertile musical environment of the San Francisco Bay Area shaped his career in a unique way. His studies of Afro-Latin music and Jazz have included several trips to Cuba, New York, and Puerto Rico.

Mr. Wallace is widely respected as a teacher and historian and is currently an instructor at the University of Indiana in Bloomington and also taught at San Jose State University, Stanford University and the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley. He has conducted lectures, workshops and clinics in the Americas and Europe since 1983.

As the head of his own record label, Patois Records, Wayne has created a unique company with a passionate mission of developing and chronicling the multi-lingual styles of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene. Patois Records is gaining attention in the industry and internationally. Under his direction the label has released 17 different recordings to critical acclaim. The labels oeuvre currently contains recordings by Mr. Wallace, the anthologies Salsa de la Bahia Vol.1 and Salsa de la Bahia Vol.2, Ritmos Unidos, Mitch Shiner and the Blooming Tones Big Band, The VW Brothers, vocalists Kat Parra, Alexa Weber Morales, and Kristina. Wayne is an endorsee of Conn-Selmer trombones.

Source: Wayne Wallace