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Samuel Blaser trombone

career

At a time when there are more musicians in the world trying to be heard than ever before, rare gems like Samuel Blaser seem, paradoxically, to rise above it all. With Early in The Mornin’ featuring Russ Lossing, Masa Kamaguchi, Gerry Hemingway, Oliver Lake and Wallace Roney - he's already achieved a rare prominence as one of his generation's most wildly elegant, relentlessly forward-thinking and undeniably virtuous trombonists.

Since his 2007 debut as a leader, 7th Heaven (Between the Lines), Blaser has grown at an almost incomprehensible rate, from straight-ahead hard bopper in his mid-twenties to innovative free player and ever-searching composer and bandleader in his early thirties, one whose improvisational strength has received praise from sources like Audiophile Audition, citing Blaser's music as occupying "ambient/free jazz terrain that has a depth of vision and clarity revealing musical maturity beyond Blaser's nearly three decades of life."

Born and raised in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland - a lesser-known but no less significant jazz metropolis which was, for a time, home to expatriate Americans Sidney Bechet and Kenny Clarke, as well as Swiss jazz trombonist Raymond Droz - Blaser has also spent considerable time living in New York City and currently resides in Berlin; truly an international musician, then, in clear defiance of boundaries cultural, musical and stylistic. Beginning trombone lessons at the age of 9, he "couldn't go past third position and had to have a trolley to carry trombone because it was too heavy," says Blaser. Still, with plenty of music in the Blaser household, where he was the middle of three children - ranging from Swiss folk music to American R&B and jazz - Blaser progressed quickly, entering the local conservatory at 14 and graduating seven years later in 2002 after receiving a number of awards in both the jazz and classical spheres, including the 2000 Benny Golson Prize.

Continuing private studies, Blaser began a number of significant associations, including the heralded Vienna Art Orchestra and European Radio Big Band, leading to a Fulbright scholarship which enabled him to study in the United States at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music, going on to win the J.J. Johnson Prize, as well as both the Public Prize and Jury's Favorite Player awards at the 2006 Fribourg Jazz Festival.

All of these diverse accomplishments have ultimately - and inevitably - led to Blaser finding a personal nexus where disparate elements like Indian Tihi and Wagnerian opera meet. Blaser's impressive improvisational élan is predicated on instrumental mastery that is nothing more than the means to very musical ends. Together with his equally unfettered quartet, Blaser continues to expand the purview of jazz, redefining it in the new millennium as it enters its second century of existence.
Beyond Blaser's ability to combine knotty compositional form with incendiary improvisational prowess in the context of his own music, his unfettered yet ever-collaborative approach has resulted in a number of significant associations, among them his ongoing work with Swiss percussion legend Pierre Favre; a much-lauded duo with guitarist Marc Ducret; touring as a member of François Houle's recent 5+1 group, and heard on the French Canadian clarinetist's Genera (Songlines, 2012); performing as a member of Marc Ducret Lady M (Ayler Records 2019); Blaser has also shared the stage with artists including clarinetist Michel Portal, drummer Daniel Humair, saxophonist Michael Blake and saxophonist Stefano di Battista. It's no surprise that Rene Laanen of USA Trombone Online has called Blaser" one of today´s finest trombonists." In 2019 the French Jazz Academy presented Samuel Blaser with the coveted European Musician Award, recognising 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.
2020 will see Blaser touring with his trio featuring French guitarist Marc Ducret and Danish drummer Peter Bruun. Blaser is also back on the road with his original quartet to promote Early in the Mornin’, an homage to the Blues with Russ Lossing on piano, Masa Kamaguchi on bass, drummer Gerry Hemingway, Wallace Roney on trumpet and Oliver Lake on alto saxophone. That record paying tribute to the Blues - was praised by Dusted's Bill Meyer as "Blaser is first and foremost a melodist, and that talent does not desert him here" Meyer continues, asserting that "By surrounding himself with musicians who are assertive but sympathetic to his ends, Blaser has really stepped up his game on Early in the Mornin’."
Between recording and touring with his own groups and collaborating in other leaders' ensembles, Blaser's career continues an upward trajectory that seems to have no end in sight. "The world of music fascinates me to no end, and I´m determined to take one journey after another with my instrument and work," says Blaser. "It´s all about discovery and communicating new ideas. Believe me, I´m proof that a shiny trombone can send a message right to your heart and change your life." Samuel Blaser is a XO Sophisticated Brass Artist.
Samuel Blaser © John Guillemin

concerts

It's not an exhaustive list.

connections

other works
Samuel Blaser Quartet, Boundless, hatoLOGY, 2011

La Fanfare du Porc, Just Observing, OhMy, 2011

Samuel Blaser & Paul Motian, Consort in Motion, Kind of Blue Records, 2011

Beatrice Graf - Transhumence, Altrisuoni, 2011

Pierre Favre Ensemble, Le voyage, Intakt Records, 2010

Bruno Tocanne, 4 New Dreams, IMR, 2010

Gabriel Zufferey, Hear & Know, Beejazz, 2010

Pierre Favre & Samuel Blaser, Vol à Voile, Intakt Records, 2010

Samuel Blaser Quartet, Pieces of Old Sky, Clean Feed, 2009

Samuel Blaser, Solo Bone, Slam Productions, 2009

Peter Van Huffel & Sophie Tassignon, Hufflignon, Clean Feed, 2008

Braff Blaser Duo, Fresh Sound New Talent, 2008

Samuel Blaser Quartet, Between The Lines, 2008

Animal Forum, Animal Forum, ZPS Production, 2008

Julien Revilloud trio, Le Premier, 2007

Pinocchio, Altrisuoni, 2007

Larsen Rupin, Spahni 2007

EBU Jazz Orchestra, "Hommage a O. Peterson",VV 2006

Darious Rourou, "Rebelle", 2006

GUSTAV, "Ultravista", Musicvertrieb 2005

Bovet Quintet, "KWA", Altrisuoni 2005

AebyBlaser Quartet, "Reves...", YVP 2004

Mya N, "Break Away", BMG 2004

Lee Scratch Perry, "Panic in Babylon", Damp 2004

Lee Scratch Perry, "Fight To The Finish ", Damp 2004

Spahni's Dub Dancers, "Sunny Spot", 2004

Swiss Jazz School Orchestra, "Shades of Time", TCB 2003

Complot, "Complot", 2003

Vienna Art Orchestra, Live in Frauenfeld, DRS 2003

Pa'latimba, "La Casita Loca", 2003

BAB Trio, "Satyr", 2003

Moonraisers, "Human", Damp 2003

Moonraisers, "Goes Around", Damp 2003

Mya N, "Break Away", Brambus, 2002

Big Band du Conservatoire, "le bal du cyclope", 2002

Forderpreis Band, Generations 2000, DRS 2001

Simon Gerber, 2000

Big Band du conservatoire, "Trois Pieces Cuisines", 2000

Blazz Quintet, Blazz, RSR 2000