Trumpet player Raymond C. Monteiro joined “The Tonight Show Band” horn section in 2010 under the musical direction of Rickey Minor.

A native of Long Beach, Calif., Monteiro credits his culturally diverse family (his mother is of African-American descent and his father is from Goa, India) for his enriched musicality. As a youth he demonstrated an aptitude for and an interest in music and the trumpet was the instrument that spoke to him the loudest.

Monteiro received a degree in music from the acclaimed Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA in 2003 and went on to turn his dream of playing the trumpet professionally into a reality.

Monteiro, has recorded and toured with some of biggest names in the music business including Christina Aguilera, Prince, the Jonas Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Sting; James Brown, The Black Eyed Peas, Earth, Wind and Fire, James Taylor; Babyface, Whitney Houston, B.B.King, Diana Ross, Justin Timberlake, Jamie Foxx, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, John Mayer, Jennifer Hudson, Patti Labelle, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and Shakira. Ray has a sound that is unmistakable, one that has afforded him the opportunity to travel the world and become a history maker by honoring America’s first African-American President, Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic Convention and Inaugural Ball.

Ray Monteiro is currently playing and endorsing Phaeton Trumpets & Fluglehorns exclusively and currently resides in Los Angeles.