justin grinnell : bass
Justin Grinnell has been a freelance musician and music educator in San Diego since his move from his hometown, Santa Rosa, California, in the fall of 1999. His familiarity with a wide range of musical styles, including jazz, latin, funk, rock, pop, and classical, make him a valuable asset in almost any musical situation.
In May 2005, Justin received his Master's Degree in Jazz Performance from San Diego State University. While attending SDSU on a full scholarship, he had the opportunity to travel, perform, and teach in South and Central America as a member of two faculty-student jazz groups. At this time, Justin began studying privately with internationally acclaimed acoustic bass soloist, Bert Turetzky.
After receiving his Master's degree in Jazz Performance from SDSU, Justin was accepted into the Henry Mancini Institute's 2005 Summer Education Program on a full scholarship. HMI was a four-week music training program on the UCLA campus where participants from around the world attend master classes, rehearsals, mentoring sessions, and panel discussions. HMI provided Justin with the opportunity to work with one of Los Angeles' premiere session bassists, Nathan East, as well as Billy Childs, Peter Erskine, Dave Liebman, Christian McBride, Vince Mendoza, and Alan Pasqua.
Justin is currently performing and composing for several jazz-influenced groups. Justin performs in downtown San Diego every Monday and Friday night in Croce's Jazz Bar with the Dave Scott Quintet and the Latin-jazz sextet, Yavaz. The ARC Trio and Danny Green Trio are collaborative projects featuring contemporary compositions and arrangements by each groups' members. In addition to his performing schedule, Justin teaches private students and Music 110: Great Music Listening, a classical music appreciation course, at Grossmont College.
If you'd like to hear Justin perform, then keep an eye on his regularly updated itinerary. Check back frequently because Justin often performs with some of San Diego's finest musicians, including Gilbert Castellanos, Rick Helzer, Christopher Hollyday, Kevin Koch, Gary Lefebvre, John Opferkuch, Duncan Moore, Peter Sprague, Tripp Sprague, and Mikan Zlatkovich.