Charles McNeal Quartet with special Guest Gilbert Castellanos at

Charles McNeal is a fiery saxophonist from the San Francisco Bay Area, who brings a sense of urgency and soul to every note he plays .
Gilbert Castellanos was Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, trumpet whiz Gilbert Castellanos first earned local cred with the Charles McPherson quintet. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, and then Cal Arts in Los Angeles. He replaced the original trumpeter in the bebop band Black/Note, which recorded an album for Columbia Records (Jungle Music, 1993) and two more for other labels before splitting.

Spin magazine has called Castellanos San Diego’s best trumpeter. He moved to San Diego in the mid-1990s, soon hosting weekly live jazz jam sessions at Ole Madrid, beginning in 1995. For him, those jam sessions were school.Castellanos has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, Diana Krall, Al Jarreau, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Dr. John, Charlie Hayden, Charles McPherson, Eldar Djangirov, Bob Magnuson, Daniel Lanois, Carl Anderson, Liza Minnelli, and Natalie Cole, just to name a few....

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Charles McNeal is a fiery saxophonist from the San Francisco Bay Area, who brings a sense of urgency and soul to every note he plays .
Gilbert Castellanos was Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, trumpet whiz Gilbert Castellanos first earned local cred with the Charles McPherson quintet. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, and then Cal Arts in Los Angeles. He replaced the original trumpeter in the bebop band Black/Note, which recorded an album for Columbia Records (Jungle Music, 1993) and two more for other labels before splitting.

Spin magazine has called Castellanos San Diego’s best trumpeter. He moved to San Diego in the mid-1990s, soon hosting weekly live jazz jam sessions at Ole Madrid, beginning in 1995. For him, those jam sessions were school.Castellanos has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, Diana Krall, Al Jarreau, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Dr. John, Charlie Hayden, Charles McPherson, Eldar Djangirov, Bob Magnuson, Daniel Lanois, Carl Anderson, Liza Minnelli, and Natalie Cole, just to name a few.

Castellanos is a member of the L.A. based Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, as well as playing with Anthony Wilson Nonet, Charles McPherson Quintet, Willie Jones III Quintet, Gilbert Castellanos Quintet, the New Latin Jazz Quartet, and the Latin Trumpet Summit. In addition, he teaches jazz at USC’s Thornton School of Music.

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