Chris Aschman

Jazz trumpeter/steelpan musician Chris Aschman enjoys a multi-faceted life as a performer, educator, studio musician, and arranger. Throughout his diverse career, he has shared the stage with Paquito D’Rivera, Stanley Clarke, Dionne Warwick, Bakithi Kumalo, Chaka Khan, Kool and the Gang, Andy Narell, Ray Holman, Lotus, Dopapod, Tauk, and many others. A Baltimore native, Chris segued to Philadelphia to study jazz trumpet at the University of the Arts in 2004 and soon became a mainstay in the Philly scene. During these years he led his Caribbean Fusion project Trinidelphia to perform locally and across the US, resulting in two full-length album releases “Trinidelphia” (2013) and “Color Wheel” (2016). After relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2022, he has focused more on his original jazz compositions that feature his trumpet playing as the lead voice. His writing features a unique architecture that combines funky pocket grooves with odd meters and a pervasive Caribbean influence, giving each song a unique rhythmic signature. These tunes are presented in his 2026 release “Volcanic,” which features some of the most adept musicians of the Bay Area along with a handful of masters from far and wide.