Biography

Two-time EMMY Award-winning keyboardist, composer, arranger, audio engineer, producer, and educator, Nick Manson presents a distinctively enjoyable listening experience for all audiences. His versatile performances offer original compositions, classic jazz standards, as well as uniquely arranged favorites from the American Songbook.

Nick’s recordings have been featured on SiriusXM and numerous NPR-related jazz radio stations, including KPLU, KJZZ, and HPR-1. His recordings are available internationally on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Pandora, and YouTube. He has recorded and/or performed with jazz and pop artists Christopher Cross, John Patitucci, Ernestine Anderson, Jay Thomas, Bud Shank, B.B. King, Plas Johnson, Jerry Bergonzi, Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra, Jeff Kashiwa (The Rippingtons), Bruce Conte (Tower of Power), James Gadson, Al McKay (Earth, Wind& Fire), Lenny Kravitz, Will Calhoun (Living Color), Deniece Williams, Jimmy Dorsey Big Band, Dianna Krall, Ernie Watts, Bennie Maupin, Gerry Gibbs, and Alphonze Mouzon.

Nick has performed at the Concord Jazz Festival, Telluride Jazz Festival, Bumper Shoot, The Playboy Jazz Festival and the majority of famous jazz clubs on the West Coast, including, Jazz Alley, Catalina’s Bar & Grill, The Baked Potato, La Ve Lee, The Jazz Bakery, Rocco’s, Vibrato Grill, Tula’s, Spazios, The M.I.M., and The Nash. He has also toured numerous times internationally in Asia, Europe, and South America.

Originally from Seattle, Nick studied classical piano privately for many years with the Assistant Conductor of the Seattle Youth Symphony, Peter Lederer. He began composing and arranging jazz for small group and big band ensembles during high school. He received his undergraduate in Interdisciplinary Music Studies from Berklee College of Music and his graduate degree in Music Education from Ottawa University. He has performed, arranged, and produced on numerous occasions within the past 36 years for
CD production, Commercials, Film, and Television. Nick has been an adjunct professor in the Jazz Studies music program at Mesa Community College since Fall 2007.

Academic degrees

• M.A.Ed. in Music Education, Ottawa University
• B.P.S. in Interdisciplinary Music Studies, Berklee College of Music