RAFAEL ENCISO

     Rafael Enciso is an award winning bassist and composer based in New York City. In his short time in New York, he has been fortunate enough to share the bandstand and collaborate with some amazing artists, including Dayna Stephens, Marta Sanchez, Charles Altura, Ben Wendel, Frank Lacy, Ingrid Jensen, Marc Cary, Takuya Kuroda, Miguel Zenon, as well as a strong roster of New York's up and coming talent. As a bassist and sideman, he has been recognized as a unique rising voice, playing with Jazz at Lincoln Center's "Future of Jazz Orchestra", Nicola Caminiti's quartet, Sam Towse's electric band [human music], the "X-tet", and many other groups dedicated to sharing unique young talent.

     Rafael has played at amazing venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, the Detroit Jazz Festival, the Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Stanford Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Dizzy's Club, the Jazz Gallery, Blues Alley, and many other prestigious jazz clubs. Rafael has gone on tour with the Dayna Stephens Quartet, and was awarded a Downbeat Award for his work with the Miguel Zenon Ensemble at Manhattan School of Music. In 2024, he recorded on Christian McGhee's album, A Winged Resilience, recording alongside Ben Wendel, Emmanuel Michael, Jahari Stampley, Esteban Castro, Santosh Sharma, Olivia Chindamo, Imani Rousselle, Brad Kang, and a small string orchestra. The music was debuted at Dizzy's Club, and is featured in a short film, The Third Ear. 
     As a bandleader and composer, Rafael has brought his bands to Bar Bayeux, NuBlu, Bop Shop Records, and the Soapbox Gallery. Rafael was recently recognized for his composition by Jason Moran, and was invited to workshop his music for two weeks at the Kennedy Center's Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program, where he worked with Benny Green, Linda Oh, Carmen Lundy, Jimmy Greene, Alvester Garnett, and Ingrid Jensen.

     Rafael is also a Mentor Fellow for the Stanford Jazz Workshop, where he taught young jazz musicians alongside Obed Calvaire, George Cables, Taylor Eigsti, Kris Davis, Edward Simon, Allison Miller, Marquis Hill, and other amazing jazz performers and educators. You can catch him there summer 2025!
     This year, Rafael will be featured on several new releases. In March 2025, he recorded TKO, a very special project with Michael Hilgendorf, Miguel Russell, Nicola Caminiti, and Sam Towse, in which each band member wrote and recorded 2 songs each in one day. Stay tuned for that release. In January 2025, Rafael recorded his own debut album, Crossfade, at the Bunker Studio in Williamsburg. The album features Gabriel Chakarji, Nicola Caminiti, Miguel Russell, Jahari Stampley, and Dayna Stephens as a producer and guest soloist. Crossfade will be released November 14th 2025 with Contagious Music.