Samuel Blaser

Growing 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 - Blaser has already worked with Swiss percussion legend Pierre Favre, pianist Hal Galper, drummer John Hollenbeck, saxophonist Michael Blake and clarinetist François Houle, and collaborated with Grammy Award-winning producer Robert Sadin. But it's as a leader that Blaser has made the greatest impact, beginning with 7th Heaven (Between the Lines, 2007) and leading to his recent As the Sea (Hatology, 2012), his second recording with guitarist Marc Ducret, bassist Bänz Oester and drummer Gerald Cleaver.

Born and raised in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Blaser lived in New York City for considerable time before relocating to Berlin, where he currently resides. 2013 will be a busy year for the trombonist, as he tours with two new trios: one that, in addition to Ducret, will also feature Danish drummer Peter Bruun; and a second with French pianist Benoit Delbecq and American drummer Gerry Hemingway. Blaser will also reunite his Consort in Motion (Kind of Blue, 2011) group with pianist Russ Lossing, Belgian reed player Joachim Badenhorst, bassist Drew Gress and Hemingway, replacing the late Paul Motian from the recording. Between recording and touring with his own groups and collaborating in other leaders' ensembles, Blaser's career continues on an upward trajectory that seems to have no end in sight.

Samuel Blaser is Yamaha Artist.