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Sam Blakeslee
Originally from Columbus, OH, Sam Blakeslee is a New York City based, award-winning trombonist and composer. Since his arrival in NYC in August 2017, he has performed at iconic jazz clubs such as The 55 Bar, Smalls, Birdland, Dizzy’s Club, The Jazz Gallery, Zinc Bar, Lincoln Center, and the Blue Note. He can also be found performing and recording regularly with GRAMMY-nominated large ensembles like the Dan Pugach Nonet, Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows, Terraza Big Band, Emilio Solla’s Tango Jazz Orchestra, and New York Afro-Bop Alliance Big Band, as well as Manuel Valera’s New Cuban Express Big Band, Jihye Lee Orchestra, Big Heart Machine, Jazz Gallery Composer’s Showcase, and Tracy Yang Jazz Orchestra, among others. He has also performed with jazz luminaries such as Sean Jones, Joe Lovano, Dick Oatts, Aretha Franklin, and John Clayton. Sam is an endorsing artist for Best American Craftsman (B.A.C.) trombones, as well as an endorsing artist for Denis Wick Mouthpieces and Mutes.
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John Yao and His 17 Piece Instrument: Points In Time
by Jack Bowers
The insuperable spirit of swinging big-band jazz is everywhere apparent on Points in Time, the seventh recording by New York-based composer, arranger and trombonist John Yao, and the second with his marvelous 17-Piece Instrument, a decade after its well-received debut, Flip-Flop. (See Tao, 2015). As on that earlier album, the playlist consists of seven of Yao's original compositions (and one outlier) written with the band in mind to exemplify in musical terms experiences and emotions Yao has ...
Continue ReadingInes Velasco: A Flash of Cobalt Blue
by Angelo Leonardi
Dopo la laurea con lode al Berklee College in composizione e varie esperienze di orchestrazione nell'ultimo decennio (Snarky Puppy, Metropole Orkest, Gregory Porter, Avenged Sevenfold, NY Philharmonic String Quartet, la National Jazz Orchestra of México), la messicana Ines Velasco debutta con un proprio album in veste di compositrice e bandleader. Il lavoro è stato ispirato ed è strettamente connesso alle poesie di Jorge Esquinca (tratte dal volume Un brillo azul cobalto) che le recita in ogni brano dell'album. ...
Continue ReadingJohn Yao and his 17 Piece Instrument: Points In Time
by Pierre Giroux
Trombonist and composer John Yao presents a heartfelt and personal retrospective with Points In Time. This ambitious album delves deeply into the emotional and professional journey he has undertaken over the past twenty years in New York City. Leading his precisely coordinated ensemble, aptly called His 17-Piece Instrument, comprised of talented musicians from various points along Yao's timeline. The eight original compositions in this session stem from key moments in Yao's life and artistic development. This work is not just ...
Continue ReadingSam Blakeslee Large Group at BLU Jazz+
by John Chacona
Sam Blakeslee Large Group BLU Jazz+ Akron, OH December 20, 2024 In December, flowers bloomed in northeast Ohio, but climate change had nothing to do with it. The sudden blossoming was the work of Sam Blakeslee who returned to his home state to celebrate the holidays with family and friends, 18 of whom joined him on the stage of Akron's BLU Jazz+ for a performance of his “Flowers for Rubber City" suite. The ...
Continue ReadingRemy Le Boeuf: Architecture of Storms
by Jack Bowers
It's hard to become bored or complacent when listening to Architecture of Storms, alto saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf's second album as leader of the twenty-member Assembly of Shadows orchestra. Every song is quite different from the others, and every one has its moments of shapeliness and charm. Le Boeuf arranged every number and composed all but Justin Vernon's “Minnesota, WI" and the album's nameplate, which he co-wrote with poet Sara Pirkle, he asserts, “on a brooding stormy ...
Continue ReadingRemy Le Boeuf's Assembly of Shadows: Architecture of Storms
by Angelo Leonardi
Remy Le Boeuf è uno dei nomi emergenti nell'ambito dell'arrangiamento e della conduzione orchestrale. Dopo il sorprendente Assembly of Shadows del 2019, il sassofonista e bandleader californiano (a New York dal 2004) torna con la sua orchestra irrobustita nel numero e nella qualità dei singoli componenti. Tra i nuovi ingressi troviamo in particolare il trombettista Mike Rodriguez e il sassofonista Dayna Stephens, che caratterizzano un paio di brani, anche se il lavoro di Le Boeuf è prettamente ...
Continue Reading“Composer, Sam Blakeslee, is a name to keep in mind as an upcoming creative, contemporary, and, more importantly, engaging composer, no matter the musical setting.”
--Rufus Reid, Legendary Jazz Bassist
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Not Even Close
From: Points In TimeBy Sam Blakeslee
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Sam Blakeslee
Location: Columbus
Instrument: Trombone
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