Altin Sencalar is a California-born, Texas-raised, New York-based trombonist, composer, and educator whose voice in jazz is both personal and expansive. A Yamaha Performing Artist and Posi-Tone Records recording artist, Sencalar has toured and recorded with luminaries including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Christian McBride, Rodney Whitaker, and Michael Bublé, as well as soul icons the Temptations and the Four Tops.
Deeply informed by his Mexican and Turkish heritage, Sencalar’s music merges contemporary jazz with folkloric roots, creating a sound that is at once grounded and globally resonant. His work has drawn praise from DownBeat, All About Jazz, and the International Trombone Association Journal, the latter citing his “crystal-clear articulations and impressive control of the wide possibilities of the instrument.”
Sencalar studied at Texas State University and the University of Texas at Austin, where he toured internationally with the UT Jazz Orchestra and studied under Andre Hayward. After winning multiple national trombone competitions, he was invited to Michigan State University by trombonist Michael Dease, later joining Dease’s studio as a teaching assistant and building a national profile. His discography includes Introducing Altin Sencalar (2017), Realization (2020), Reconnected (2021), and Live at Monks Jazz EP (2022). After relocating to New York, he made his Posi-Tone debut with In Good Standing (2023), followed by Discover the Present (2024) and Unleashed (2025), which earned four stars in DownBeat for its emotional range and technical command.
Sencalar is a first-time parent and a lifelong student of the craft. His forward motion is constant — whether composing, performing, or mentoring others. “Consistency, awareness, and intention,” he says. “That’s what I live my life by in everything that I do.” A dedicated educator, Sencalar has held appointments at Central Texas College, University of Mary-Hardin Baylor, Iona University, Missouri State University and San Francisco Conservatory. He joined the Thompson Jazz Studies faculty at CU Boulder in fall 2025 as Assistant Teaching Professor of Jazz Studies.