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Open Sound: Sam Blakeslee Quartet
June 12, 2024 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

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Sam Blakeslee Quartet
When: Wednesday, June 12, 7pm
Where: Open Source Gallery, 306 17th St, Brooklyn
Sam Blakeslee – trombone/compositions
Martha Kato – piano
Tony DePaolis – bass
Lee Fish – drums
Sam Blakeslee is a New York City-based trombonist and composer and 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.
As an active composer, In 2018, Blakeslee won the David Baker Prize in Composition from Ravinia Steans Music Institute and was also a 2020 COVID-19 Commission Grant recipient from International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers. He has also been commissioned to create original works and arrangements by the University of Akron, Oberlin College, Jazz Arts Group, and Tri-C JazzFest.
As a bandleader, he has released 5 albums as a leader including 3 with his enigmatic and eclectic ensemble Wistful Thinking. In May 2023, he recorded two albums of his big band music with the Sam Blakeslee Large Group in NYC, with both set to be released separately at later dates.
As a trombonist, Blakeslee is active in the contemporary big band scene in New York where he performs regularly with Grammy-nominated ensembles like the Remy Le Bouef’s Assembly of Shadows, Manuel Valera’s New Cuban Express Big Band, Terraza Big Band, Dan Pugach Nonet, New York Afro-Bop Alliance Big Band, and Emilio Solla’s Tango Jazz Orchestra. He has also performed with jazz artists Sean Jones, Joe Lovano, Dan Wilson, Dick Oatts, Aretha Franklin, John Clayton, Big Heart Machine, and The Jazz Gallery Composer’s Showcase directed by Miho Hazama.
As an educator, he is currently on faculty at the University of Hartford – Hartt School of Music, in the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz as Director of the Hartt Big Band and Artist Teacher of Trombone. He has also served on the faculty of Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Youngstown State University.