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Nick Phillips

GRAMMY-recognized jazz producer, trumpet player, composer.

About Me

”...spellbinding...performances that call to mind Miles Davis-esque moodiness and Chet Baker-ish romanticism and longing. ★★★★ ” —All About Jazz

A GRAMMY®-recognized record producer, Nick Phillips has worked on hundreds of album releases—from newly- recorded projects featuring jazz icons Kenny Barron, Bob Berg, Randy Brecker, Nnenna Freelon, Jon Hendricks, Marian McPartland, Chris Potter, Poncho Sanchez, and Kenny Werner, to historical collections and reissues spotlighting the timeless recordings of music legends Gary Burton, Tony Bennett, Booker T. & the MG's, Ray Charles, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Vince Guaraldi, Little Richard, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Ella Fitzgerald, Albert King, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, The Staple Singers, Sarah Vaughan, and countless others.

Several Phillips-produced projects have garnered GRAMMY® nominations—including five nominations for albums by critically-acclaimed jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson alone—while the following recordings on which he worked went on to win the coveted GRAMMY® Award: Tito Puente “Lambada Timbales” (1990, Assistant Producer), Poncho Sanchez Latin Soul (1999, Associate Producer), Terence Blanchard “Be-Bop” (2008, Co-Producer), and John Coltrane Afro Blue Impressions (2013, Reissue Producer).

After more than 28 years with Concord Music Group, Phillips left his post as a staff producer and Vice President of Jazz and Catalog A&R in 2016 to form his own music production and consulting company, Zen & Tonic. As a consultant/producer he continues to produce historical reissue projects for Concord’s catalog division, Craft Recordings, and has also provided production and/or consulting services for such companies as Mack Avenue Records, Blue Coast Records, iHeartRadio, and Empress Music Group. Phillips has also consulted with GRAMMY® Award-winner Paula Cole, GRAMMY®-nominated jazz vocalists Karrin Allyson and Nnenna Freelon, and Juno Award-winner Emilie-Claire Barlow, among other recording artists.

As the Jazz Music Editor of Digital Programming at iHeartRadio, Phillips also currently manages the jazz playlists section at iHeart.com (and iHeartRadio app) where he has curated and published more than 100 jazz digital playlists. He has also worked directly with record companies, artist managers, and recording artists to facilitate more than 50 artist-curated playlists.

As a critically-acclaimed jazz recording artist in his own right, Phillips produced and managed all phases of his own Billboard-charting, self-released recording projects—Moment to Moment (co-led with Cava Menzies, 2014) and Haiku (co-led with Jenny Maybee, 2016). Both recordings received accolades for their pristine sonics, while Phillips' lyrical, warm-toned trumpet playing drew laudatory comparisons to the work of jazz trumpet legends Miles Davis (”The Ballads Album Miles Davis Never Recorded”—East Bay Express) and Chet Baker (“…Phillips channels his inner Chet Baker...Haiku is in the same league.”—Classicalite). Live performances have included such esteemed venues and events as Yoshi’s and The Sound Room in Oakland, the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, the Empress Theater in Vallejo, and the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Concord Jazz Festival.

As an educator, Phillips has taught courses in the greater Bay Area at the University of the Pacific and Los Medanos College. He has been featured as a jazz/recording industry panelist and clinician at numerous workshops and conferences around the country, including Jazz Education Network, Jazz Connect, International Association for Jazz Education, Jazz Composers' Symposium at the University of South Florida, JazzTimes, Grammy Career Day, Grammy in the Schools, West Coast Songwriters, NEA Open World Project, California Jazz Conservatory, University of the Pacific, and Loyola University. He was the subject of the “The Power of Listening” feature story that appeared in the premiere issue of JazzEd magazine (November 2006) and was profiled in the “Careers Off the Bandstand” article in DownBeat magazine (October 2014).

Phillips has served on the Recording Academy’s (GRAMMYs®) national Board of Trustees, the Recording Academy San Francisco chapter board, and the GRAMMY® Foundation's Board of Directors. He currently serves on the Music Management/Business program advisory board at the University of the Pacific.