Samuel Blaser

Biography

Samuel Blaser grew up in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, where he started playing trombone at nine. His early musical tastes ranged from Swiss folk to American R&B and jazz. He joined the local conservatory at fourteen and finished in 2002, picking up awards in both jazz and classical categories, including the 2000 Benny Golson Prize. After playing with the Vienna Art Orchestra and the European Radio Big Band, he earned a Fulbright Scholarship to study at Purchase College Conservatory of Music under James E. Pugh, John Fedchock, and Hal Galper. Blaser later lived in New York City and Berlin before moving back to his hometown, where he now lives. His career is marked by a mix of complex composition and fiery improvisation, and he has worked with many musicians: percussionist Pierre Favre, guitarist Marc Ducret, a trio with Daniel Humair and Heiri Känzig, a quartet with Russ Lossing, Masa Kamaguchi, and Billy Mintz, plus collaborations with Oliver Lake, Wallace Roney, John Hollenbeck, Robert Sadin, and Michel Portal. Between 2000 and 2020, he appeared on over eighty jazz recordings. In 2019, the French Jazz Academy gave him the European Musician Award, and Downbeat named him the number two Rising Star Trombone in its Critics Poll.