Carlos Niño & Friends is the project created in 2008 by Carlos Niño (born in Santa Monica, California, February 16, 1977), musician, percussionist, producer, DJ, radio host and organizer of collaborative projects. Active since the 1990s in the Los Angeles jazz, ambient and experimental scenes, Carlos Niño has previously launched several groups, including Ammoncontact, Build an Ark, Life Force Trio, Hu Vibrational and the duo The Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble. After a debut album released under the name Carlos Niño & Friends in 2009, High with a Little Help From, the collective that recorded Aquariusssssss (2012) became his central project, bringing together rotating musicians, often from the spiritual jazz, ambient or electronic scenes. Subsequent albums include Flutes, Echoes, It's All Happening! (2016), Going Home (2017), Auroramushroomtenderness (2020), Actual Presence and Extra Presence (2020), More Energy Fields, Current (2021), (I'm just) Chillin', on Fire (2023) and Placenta (2024), alongside numerous collaborations with Kamasi Washington, Laraaji, Sam Gendel, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Jamael Dean and André 3000. In 2025, Carlos Niño & Friends teamed up with rapper/slammer/poet Saul Williams for the live recording Saul Williams Meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople, released in 2025.
