Faculty profile
Carlo Rabano
Trombone
Jazz Camp Week 1 Jazz Camp Week 2 Jazz Institute Jazz Camp Package Trombone Advanced Package
Carlo Rabano’s entire musical philosophy is backed by one simple rule: “Tell Your Story”.
Hailed as “[one of the] San Francisco Young Lions” by Ulysses Owens Jr., the Filipino-American trombonist’s soulful, powerful sound takes both the traditional and modern aspects of jazz to always storytell through improvisation and composition. His vocabulary and compositional style captures the raw excitement, passion, and energy that is necessary to connect both musically and emotionally with musicians and the audience.
His latest community project, PANGANDOY: The Dreams We Share Overseas, bridged music and culture with the San Francisco Filipino community. Carlo’s original compositions performed by his quartet celebrated Filipino roots and heritage, fusing together themes of cultural identity and personal experience with the traditions of jazz composition and improvisation.
After relocating from Orange County, CA to San Francisco in 2021, Carlo recently graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Music from the Roots, Jazz, and American Music program. He now regularly performs throughout the Bay with his groups, and is an in-demand sideperson for both jazz and commercial music. Carlo has performed with Ulysses Ownes Jr., Steven Lugerner, The Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, the M’Orchestra, and Adam Klipple, in addition to international musicians such as Arthur Verocai and Vladimir Cetkar, and is principal trombonist for the Filipino American Symphony Orchestra in LA.
An equally passionate music educator, Carlo has embraced his role as Lead Artist-in-Residence at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, leading the longstanding jazz program into a new era. Focusing on community through music as well as traditional and modern jazz big band and small group styles, he directs the SOTA Advanced Big Band and SOTA Advanced Combo. Carlo also collaborates with Stanford Jazz Workshop as a coach for their middle school programs, visits schools for brass masterclasses, and privately teaches throughout the Bay.
