bio

Caleb Eckstein is a trombonist, composer, and arranger based in Jersey City, NJ. Born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, his father introduced him to jazz at a very young age. Caleb started playing trombone when he was 8, and became fully committed once he heard Wycliffe Gordon perform a concert in his hometown in 2009. While in high school, he was a member of the Princeton Studio Band, and later pursued a double major in Music Performance and Neuroscience at Northwestern University, studying trombone with Vincent Gardner and Tom Garling, and other music legends such as Joe Clark, Victor Goines, and Jeremy Kahn.

Since graduating, Caleb has performed with jazz musicians such as Warren Wolf, Benny Bennack III, Briana Thomas, Tyreek McDole, and Kenny Davis. He has also worked for contemporary music acts such as The Men of Soul, The Bronx Wanderers, the Brass Animals, and former Brazilian Girls lead singer Sabina Sciubba. Caleb has performed in venues such as Birdland Jazz Club, Dizzy’s Club, the City Winery Philadelphia, the Broadway Theater of Pitman, and led his own bands at Chris’s Jazz Cafe, Clement’s Place, Van Gogh’s Ear Cafe, and Crossroads NJ.

Caleb has led multiple bands/projects, such as the Constellation Big Band, which he co-leads with NYC Drummer and composer Jared Decker and vocalist Allison Spann, the BopTet, a hard bop jazz sextet, and the Butter Trio, a drummer-less jazz trio with trombone, piano, and bass. Caleb is also the organizer for the Princeton Jazz Jam, a monthly series of jazz concerts and jam sessions, featuring special guest performers each month.

Caleb also runs his own private lesson studio for young trombonists grades 6-12, covering fundamentals, technique, expressiveness, and jazz improvisation and theory. If you know a young trombonist looking to take their playing to the next level, feel free to contact!