As a child, Carpenter took piano lessons at a local music shop for a few years before buying his first electric guitar. By the time he was 13, he was performing in bands across northeast Ohio playing all styles of music from blues, funk, and soul to classic rock, hair metal, and grunge. His love of “taking guitar solos” used to irritate some of his bandmates, but eventually, with the help of his high school jazz band, Carpenter discovered jazz and improvisational music. This discovery of jazz music, a genre characterized by lengthy solos and complex chord progressions, sent him down a creative path he least expected.

Carpenters diverse musical upbringing has resulted in a genre bending style that is evident in his performance style and compositional methods. He leads many projects including his own trio, quartet, and The Chandler Carpenter Big Band playing original music and arrangements of classics from the American Songbook and modern pop music. He has shared the stage with many notable musicians including Aidan Plank (Joe Lovano, John Fedchock, Jamey Haddad), Steve Kortyka (Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett), Sammy Haig (Tyler The Creator, Meghan Trainor), and Jack Schantz (Mel Tormé, Sarah Vaughan, Nacy Wilson). Additionally, Carpenter is an active pit musician who has performed: Shrek, Into the Woods, Mama Mia, Bridges of Madison County, Tommy, Footloose, Next to Normal, Spongebob, Godspell, Grease, The Prom, Bright Star, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, and Rent.

As a composer, Carpenter has been commissioned to write for big band, wind ensemble, string quartet, flute trio, and arrange/orchestrate/produce pop music. Carpenter was commissioned by Cleveland based singer-songwriter Jeffrey Cruz to arrange his music for a big band. The Chandler Carpenter Big Band was featured playing arrangements of Cruz's music which was recorded live at The Bop Stop, Clevelands award winning jazz club, and will be independently released.

Carpenter lives outside of Newark, New Jersey and is faculty at Passaic County Community College where he teaches guitar, music technology, and theory/composition.

Carpenter is an alumnus of Youngstown State University (MM - Jazz Studies) and The University of Akron (BM - Jazz Studies). He has studied composition and arranging under Dr. Dave Morgan (Joe Lovano, Franklin Cohen), Jack Schantz (Mel Tormé, Sarah Vaughan, Nacy Wilson), and Chris Coles (Nine Lives Project, John Hollenbeck). As a guitarist, he has studied under Dr. Francois Fowler (GFA Finalist) and Dean Newton.