Since moving to the Bay Area in 2009, Chris Trinidad has become a vital voice on the Asian-American jazz scene. Originally from Vancouver, the Filipino-Canadian musician, teacher, multi-instrumentalist and scholar has honed a wide-open aesthetic shaped by his love of jazz, his embracing spirituality and his insistent curiosity about fellow humans. Co-presenting a regular Asian-American jazz showcase in South San Francisco’s Sky Café with tenor saxophonist Francis Wong, Trinidad seeks to build community through music. In recent years he’s collaborated with an illustrious array of improvisers, from Spanish pianist Alex Condé, saxophonist Charlie Gurke, Grammy Award-winning pianist Christian Tumalan and veteran drummer David Rokeach. Whether he’s playing drums, bass guitar, keyboards, or singing, Trinidad creates music that sparks the imagination and soothes the soul.