Biography
Trumpeter and composer Dan Rosenboom occupies a central place in Los Angeles’s jazz and creative music communities, where his output spans propulsive post-bop, experimental contemporary music, and aggressive jazz laced with metal elements. Attention first came his way in the 2000s through sideman work alongside saxophonist Vinny Golia, after which he launched an independent, wide-ranging path with the 2006 release Bloodier, Mean Son. Over time he has established a singular identity, shifting between harmonically intricate jazz and fusion recordings such as 2013’s Unsayable Absence and 2019’s Absurd in the Anthropocene, both featuring saxophonist Gavin Templeton, and the jazz-metal hybrids he has pursued with guitarist Jake Vossler, among them 2019’s American Circus. In 2023 these threads converged on the vigorous album Polarity.
Born in California in 1982, Rosenboom was raised in a household steeped in music as the son of composer David Rosenboom and performance artist and vocalist Jacqueline Humbert. During his teenage years he set his sights on a classical orchestral trumpet trajectory and entered the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. After completing his undergraduate studies he returned to the West Coast, finishing graduate work at UCLA and Cal Arts. It was at that point that he began to devote serious attention to improvised music, collaborating with several forward-looking jazz and creative-music figures that included reedist Vinny Golia and Harris Eisenstadt. He also became a member of the Balkan-jazz-metal ensemble PLOTZ! and started directing his own small ensembles. Concurrently he undertook classical engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and built a substantial studio career, contributing to numerous film scores that encompass Despicable Me 2, X-Men: Apocalypse, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and additional soundtracks.
As a leader, Rosenboom introduced himself with the 2006 album Bloodier, Mean Son, an expansive recording that fused his classical, new-music, and heavy-metal backgrounds. Subsequent projects included Fallen Angeles and Unsayable Absence, the latter showcasing his ensemble with saxophonist Gavin Templeton. The metal-infused Book of Omens appeared in 2013, again with saxophonist Golia along with guitarist Jake Vossler, bassist Tim Lefebvre, and drummer Matt Mayhall. The same collective reconvened two years later for Book of Storms. In 2014 he inaugurated his Orenda Records imprint with the fusion-quintet album Fire Keeper, and in 2015 he reunited with Templeton on Astral Transference & Seven Dreams. Alongside Vossler he issued two albums under the jazz-metal protest banner Burning Ghosts, among them 2017’s Reclamation on Tzadik.
In 2019 Rosenboom issued the fusion-oriented Absurd in the Anthropocene, produced by Jeff Babko and again spotlighting Templeton together with an extensive roster of prominent musicians that featured saxophonist David Binney, drummers Vinnie Colaiuta, Gary Novak, and Zach Danziger, bassists Jimmy Johnson, Tim Lefebvre, and Jerry Watts, Jr., and additional contributors. He also rejoined Burning Ghosts for American Circus. The following year he released the quartet recording Points on an Infinite Line with Templeton, bassist Billy Mohler, and drummer Anthony Fung. Also in 2020 he partnered with drummer Mayhall on the freely improvised duo album Language. He subsequently reduced the ensemble to a trio with Mohler and Fung for 2021’s Refraction, then explored duo and trio formats with guitarist Vossler and drummer Tina Raymond. In 2023 he unveiled Polarity, an incisive small-group statement featuring Templeton, keyboardist John Escreet, bassist Mohler, and drummer Damion Reid.
Born in California in 1982, Rosenboom was raised in a household steeped in music as the son of composer David Rosenboom and performance artist and vocalist Jacqueline Humbert. During his teenage years he set his sights on a classical orchestral trumpet trajectory and entered the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. After completing his undergraduate studies he returned to the West Coast, finishing graduate work at UCLA and Cal Arts. It was at that point that he began to devote serious attention to improvised music, collaborating with several forward-looking jazz and creative-music figures that included reedist Vinny Golia and Harris Eisenstadt. He also became a member of the Balkan-jazz-metal ensemble PLOTZ! and started directing his own small ensembles. Concurrently he undertook classical engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and built a substantial studio career, contributing to numerous film scores that encompass Despicable Me 2, X-Men: Apocalypse, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and additional soundtracks.
As a leader, Rosenboom introduced himself with the 2006 album Bloodier, Mean Son, an expansive recording that fused his classical, new-music, and heavy-metal backgrounds. Subsequent projects included Fallen Angeles and Unsayable Absence, the latter showcasing his ensemble with saxophonist Gavin Templeton. The metal-infused Book of Omens appeared in 2013, again with saxophonist Golia along with guitarist Jake Vossler, bassist Tim Lefebvre, and drummer Matt Mayhall. The same collective reconvened two years later for Book of Storms. In 2014 he inaugurated his Orenda Records imprint with the fusion-quintet album Fire Keeper, and in 2015 he reunited with Templeton on Astral Transference & Seven Dreams. Alongside Vossler he issued two albums under the jazz-metal protest banner Burning Ghosts, among them 2017’s Reclamation on Tzadik.
In 2019 Rosenboom issued the fusion-oriented Absurd in the Anthropocene, produced by Jeff Babko and again spotlighting Templeton together with an extensive roster of prominent musicians that featured saxophonist David Binney, drummers Vinnie Colaiuta, Gary Novak, and Zach Danziger, bassists Jimmy Johnson, Tim Lefebvre, and Jerry Watts, Jr., and additional contributors. He also rejoined Burning Ghosts for American Circus. The following year he released the quartet recording Points on an Infinite Line with Templeton, bassist Billy Mohler, and drummer Anthony Fung. Also in 2020 he partnered with drummer Mayhall on the freely improvised duo album Language. He subsequently reduced the ensemble to a trio with Mohler and Fung for 2021’s Refraction, then explored duo and trio formats with guitarist Vossler and drummer Tina Raymond. In 2023 he unveiled Polarity, an incisive small-group statement featuring Templeton, keyboardist John Escreet, bassist Mohler, and drummer Damion Reid.
Albums
