Samuel Blaser

Samuel Blaser
Blaser in 2025
Blaser in 2025
Background information
Born1981 (age 44–45)
La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
GenreJazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentTrombone
LabelsBlaser Music, SONGS, Hat Hut, Outhere Music, Whirlwind Recordings, Clean Feed, Fresh Sound
Websitewww.samuelblaser.com
Samuel Blaser at Aarhus Jazz Festival 2015

Samuel Blaser (born 20 July 1981 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland) is a Swiss trombonist and composer.

Biography

Born and raised in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Samuel Blaser lived in New York City and Berlin for many years before relocating to his hometown, where he currently resides. He began trombone lessons at the age of 9, and his early interests ranged from Swiss folk music to American R&B and jazz. He entered the local conservatory at 14 and graduated in 2002 after being awarded prizes in both the jazz and classical spheres, including the 2000 Benny Golson Prize. Participation in the heralded Vienna Art Orchestra and European Radio Big Band eventually led to a Fulbright Scholarship, facilitating studies in the United States at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music where he studied with James E. Pugh, John Fedchock and Hal Galper.

Blaser's ability to combine knotty compositional form with incendiary improvisational prowess is matched by an unfettered yet ever-collaborative approach, resulting in a number of significant associations. These include his ongoing work with Swiss percussion legend Pierre Favre; a much-lauded duo with guitarist Marc Ducret; a trio with Swiss drummer Daniel Humair and bassist Heiri Känzig; a Quartet with Russ Lossing, Masa Kamaguchi and Billy Mintz; collaborations with saxophonist Oliver Lake, trumpet player Wallace Roney, drummer John Hollenbeck, Grammy Award-winning producer Robert Sadin, and clarinetist Michel Portal. In the genre of jazz, Blaser appears on over 80 recordings between 2000 and 2020.

In 2019 the French Jazz Academy presented Samuel Blaser with the coveted European Musician Award, recognizing the importance of his work in the field of jazz. The same year Blaser was voted #2 Rising Star Trombone of the 2019 Downbeat Critics Poll.

Discography

Awards and honors

References

  1. ↑ "Palmarès 2018 - Académie du jazz". Academiedujazz.com. Archived from the original on 2020-10-05. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  2. ↑ Downbeat Critics