Samuel Blaser


Samuel Blaser is a Swiss trombonist and composer.

Biography

Born and raised in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Samuel Blaser lived in New York City for many years before relocating to Berlin, 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 and John Fedchock.
In his relatively short career, Blaser has worked with Swiss percussion legend Pierre Favre, guitarist Marc Ducret, saxophonist Oliver Lake, trumpet player Wallace Roney and drummer John Hollenbeck, and has worked with Grammy Award-winning producer Robert Sadin, and more recently with drummer Daniel Humair and clarinetist Michel Portal.
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.

Projects

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; a trio with Swiss drummer Daniel Humair and bassist Heiri Känzig as well as a Quartet with Russ Lossing, Masa Kamaguchi and Gerry Hemingway. In the genre of jazz, Blaser appears on 80 recordings between 2000 and 2020.

Discography

7th Heaven, with Scott DuBois, Thomas Morgan, Gerald CleaverYAY, with Malcolm BraffSolo Bone Pieces of Old Sky, with Thomas Morgan, Todd NeufeldVol à Voile with Pierre FavreBoundless, with Marc Ducret, Bänz Oester, Gerald CleaverConsort in Motion, with Paul Motian, Russ Lossing, Thomas MorganOne from None, with Michael Bates, Michael Blake, Russ Lossing, Jeff DavisAs The Sea, with Marc Ducret, Bänz Oester, Gerald CleaverA Mirror to Machaut with Joachim Badenhorst, Russ Lossing, Drew Gress, Gerry Hemingway Fourth Landscape with Benoît Delbecq, Gerry HemingwaySpring Rain, with Russ Lossing, Drew Gress, Gerald CleaverOostum, with Gerry HemingwayTaktlos Zürich 2017, with Marc Ducret, Peter BruunEarly in the Mornin', with Russ Lossing, Masa Kamaguchi, Gerry Hemingway, Oliver Lake, Wallace RoneyThe Great Tommy McCook, with Soweto Kinch, Michael Blake, Alex Wilson, Alan Weekes, Ira Coleman and Dion ParsonAudio Rebel, with Marc DucretABC vol. 1, with Marc Ducret and Peter BruunABC vol. 2, with Marc Ducret and Peter Bruun1291, with Daniel Humair, Heiri Känzig18 monologues élastiques Live at Cornelia Street Café, with Paul Motian, Eivind Opsvik and Russ LossingMoods, with Marc Ducret, Masa Kamaguchi and Gerry HemingwayVoyageurs, with Marc Ducret

Awards and honors