Wallace Stelzer is an esteemed New York City-based double bassist. Drawn to the city by his love of jazz, blues, and Brazilian music, the Houston native maintains a busy performance and recording schedule as both a sideman and bandleader in his own right. His thoughtful approach to the instrument found him a niche in the city’s competitive jazz scene and continues to bring him wonderful performance opportunities across many of the most prestigious stages domestically and abroad, with some of the world’s finest musicians.
Wallace is well known for his tenure with Tatiana Eva-Marie and the Avalon Jazz Band, his time spent in Patrick Bartley’s J-Music Pocket Band, video recordings with Robyn Adele Anderson, and performances with NYC swing band The Hot Toddies. He is honored to have taken the stage at such venues and events as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, NYC Winter Jazzfest, New York Hot Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center's Summer for the City, Caroga Lake Music Festival, The Blue Llama, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, The Blue Note (NYC, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo), Joe’s Pub, and Birdland, among many others. He is honored to have shared the stage with countless innovative artists including Don Hahn, Stéphane Séva, Carol Morgan, Gene Bertoncini, Carlos Bauzys, Gabe Terracciano, and Cindy Cashdollar.
Along with his performing career, Wallace is also a committed educator, composer, and sound engineer. Wallace happily taught guitar, ukulele, and bass lessons at the Larchmont Music Academy for many years before stepping down to focus on touring. He is still dedicated to teaching music independently. Wallace has published several articles and constructed video courses for Learn Jazz Standards--an excellent online resource for aspiring jazz musicians. When not gigging, teaching, or practicing, Wallace also enjoys writing and producing new music in his home recording studio in Queens.
Wallace earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in jazz performance from the City College of New York in 2014, where he studied with world-renowned bassist John Patitucci. His knowledge of music was further supplemented by many other wonderful instructors including Mike Holober, Vanderlei Pereira, Scott Reeves, Steve Wilson, and Adam Cruz. Upon graduating magna cum laude, Wallace accepted an invitation to join the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society.
A proud alumnus of the High School for Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), Wallace credits the fine jazz education he received from Warren Sneed and Art Fristoe to be the foundation upon which he built his career in music today. He also regards his private study with esteemed double bassists Burke Shaw, Dennis Whittaker, and Lynn Seaton as truly invaluable; and would like to express further gratitude to instructor, colleague, and friend Erin Wright for her dedicated mentorship. Through their influences, he hopes to share the joy of music with every person he teaches, musician he performs with, and audience he performs for.
