NICK MANCINI
sponsored by
Innovative Percussion Inc.
Vibraphonist and composer NICK MANCINI began his professional career as a drummer, at the age of 15. His undergrad studies earned him degrees from Schenectady County Community College and The Crane School of Music at Potsdam. He moved to NYC and graduated from Manhattan School of Music with a masters degree in jazz performance; a recipient of the President's Award scholarship. After 10 years of honing his art as a performing and recording musician in NYC, he relocated to Los Angeles. He has performed and recorded with such diverse luminaries as Arturo Sandoval, Charles Fambrough, Harvey Mason, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Peter Erskine, Poncho Sanchez, Kenny Werner, New York Voices and Jennifer Holliday to name a few; and at notable venues such as The World Famous Apollo Theater; Showtime at the Apollo, Birdland NYC, the Aspen Music Festival, Fasching Jazz Club (Stockholm), Ford Amphitheater, Angel City Jazz Festival, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Catalina Jazz Club, The Blue Whale, Vibrato, Zipper Hall, Vitello's and virtually every jazz venue in Los Angeles.
In the summer of 2011, Mancini was celebrated as the Honoree at the 18th annual Jazz Vibes Summit in Los Angeles and was invited to join the faculty at California State University at Northridge (CSUN) and Long Beach, Bob Cole Conservatory (CSULB). Earlier that same year his face graced the cover of the popular arts magazine, Ventana Monthly. From 2011-2012 Nick served on faculty of the Thelonious Monk Institute. He is on the cutting edge of the creative music scene in LA. In addition to a busy performing and recording career, Mancini also curates a semi-annual performance series called "elastic hour," which features many of LA's most prominent performing ensembles and garnered honorable reviews by the LA Weekly. In the realm of production, he has arranged and overseen the production of multiple Jazz vocal records and boasts seven independently released records under his own name; "storyteller" and "West Coast Cool" in 2013 alone, around the same time as he signed endorsement contracts with Majestic vibes and Innovative Percussion mallets.
When asked, "Where do you see yourself now and in the years to come?" He responds, "I consider myself merely at the beginning of what is sure to be a many splendored life in music."
"From New York, vibist Mancini leads his ensemble to the Promised Land."
– James E. Fowler, LA Times
"In from New York City is the Nick Mancini Collective, led by an exploratory young vibraphonist with two toes dipped in tradition who splashes gentle swing, understatedly bent shoogabooga and exotic undersea layerings of filtered light. Original and good."
– Greg Burk, LA Weekly