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 Cleaver
  • YAY, with Malcolm Braff
  • Solo Bone
  • Pieces of Old Sky, with Thomas Morgan, Todd Neufeld
  • Vol à Voile with Pierre Favre
  • Boundless, with Marc Ducret, Bänz Oester, Gerald Cleaver
  • Consort in Motion, with Paul Motian, Russ Lossing, Thomas Morgan
  • One from None, with Michael Bates, Michael Blake, Russ Lossing, Jeff Davis
  • As The Sea, with Marc Ducret, Bänz Oester, Gerald Cleaver
  • A Mirror to Machaut with Joachim Badenhorst, Russ Lossing, Drew Gress, Gerry Hemingway
  • Fourth Landscape with Benoît Delbecq, Gerry Hemingway
  • Spring Rain, with Russ Lossing, Drew Gress, Gerald Cleaver
  • Oostum, with Gerry Hemingway
  • Taktlos Zürich 2017, with Marc Ducret, Peter Bruun
  • Early in the Mornin', with Russ Lossing, Masa Kamaguchi, Gerry Hemingway, Oliver Lake, Wallace Roney
  • The Great Tommy McCook, with Soweto Kinch, Michael Blake, Alex Wilson, Alan Weekes, Ira Coleman and Dion Parson
  • Audio Rebel, with Marc Ducret
  • ABC vol. 1, with Marc Ducret and Peter Bruun
  • ABC vol. 2, with Marc Ducret and Peter Bruun
  • 1291, with Daniel Humair, Heiri Känzig
  • 18 monologues élastiques
  • Live at Cornelia Street Café, with Paul Motian, Eivind Opsvik and Russ Lossing
  • Moods, with Marc Ducret, Masa Kamaguchi and Gerry Hemingway
  • Voyageurs, with Marc Ducret

    Awards and honors

  • European Musician Award, French Jazz Academy, 2019
  • Downbeat Critics Poll, USA, Rising star trombonist, #4 in 2016, #4 in 2015, #7 in 2013
  • New York City Jazz Record, USA, Musician of the Year, 2014
  • Jazzparade, Switzerland, “Prix du public” et “coup de Coeur du Jury” awarded by Bob Mintzer, 2006
  • Jay Jay Johnson Prize, USA, Honorable mention, 2006
  • Fulbright Grant, USA, One-year Study Grant, 2005
  • Robert Faller Prize, Switzerland, 2002
  • Benny Golson Prize, Switzerland, 2000