About Sam
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.
As a bandleader, Sam has released 5 albums; Sam Blakeslee Quintet - Selective Coverage (2017), Sam Blakeslee & Wistful Thinking - The Long Middle (2021, Outside In Music), Sam Blakeslee Large Group - Live at Blu Jazz (2022, Golden Mean Records), and Sam Blakeslee & Wistful Thinking - Busy Body (2022, Outside In Music), Sam Blakeslee & Wistful Thinking - Live At Radio Artifact (2024, Radio Artifact Records) as well as two singles, Sam Blakeslee & Wistful Thinking - Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming (2021, Outside In Music), and Sam Blakeslee Large Group - Another Day In Which To Excel (2021, Golden Mean Records). Selective Coverage received a glowing 4-star rating from All About Jazz, and The Long Middle and Busy Body were featured in JazzIz Magazine, Textura Magazine, Making a Scene Magazine, and the International Trombone Association Journal, among other publications. Busy Body was also named “Best of The Rest Of 2022” by Goldmine Magazine.
As an active composer for large ensembles, Sam was a member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop in NYC from 2019-23 under the direction of Andy Farber and Alan Ferber. In 2018, he was the recipient of 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. In May 2024, he will be a featured presenter at the bi-annual International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers Symposium at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He also leads the Sam Blakeslee Large Group, which is a 18-piece jazz orchestra that features some of NYC’s most creative voices. The ensemble has performed extensively throughout NYC and the Midwest, including a sold-out debut at Birdland Jazz Club in February 2023. In May 2023, the Sam Blakeslee Large Group recorded two albums of original music at Oktaven Audio in Mount Vernon, NY in May 2023. Both albums are in post-production to be released separately at a later date.
As an educator, he is currently on faculty at the esteemed University of Hartford - Hartt School of Music, in the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz as Artist Teacher of Jazz Trombone and Director of the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz Big Band. He also served as the Director of the Tri-C JazzFest Jazz Academy at Cuyahoga Community College from 2015-2017, which was an all-city high school satellite program, as well as serving on the faculty at Youngstown State University, Cuyahoga Community College, and Cleveland Institute of Music. He has also given clinics and masterclasses at Oberlin Conservatory, Youngstown State University, San Diego Performing Arts School, Jazz Arts Group, Kent State University, Ashland University, Lakeside Chautauqua, Lakota West High School, Solon High School, and was an Artist-in-Residence at University of Akron in April 2023. Sam holds a Bachelor of Music - Jazz Studies from Youngstown State University and a Master of Music in Classical Brass Performance from University of Akron.
Sam has also participated in some of the world’s most prestigious workshops and residencies. In 2010, Sam was selected one of fifteen people nationwide to attend The Steans Institute for the Young Artist at Ravinia where he studied with Curtis Fuller, Rufus Reid, Dr. Nathan Davis, and Dr. David Baker. In 2011, he also attended Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead at the Kennedy Center which is a two week residency where his original music was broadcast to a worldwide audience. In May 2014, Sam attended the International Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music at the Banff Centre where he studied with Vjiay Iyer, Ambrose Akinmusire, Steve Lehman, Tyshawn Sorey, Nir Felder, Warren Wolf, among others.