Sam Blakeslee Large Group

Sam Blakeslee Large Group

is a 17-piece contemporary jazz orchestra that features original compositions and arrangements that uphold musical traditions as well as striking innovation.

In May 2023, he recorded two albums of his big band music with the Sam Blakeslee Large Group in NYC. The first album, New Blood is to be released on September 25, 2026 on Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records. Notable Large Group performances have included a sold-out debut at Birdland Jazz Club in NYC, Tri-C JazzFest, Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival, Blu Jazz, The Bop Stop, and most recently the 2025 Jazz Education Network Conference in January 2025. 

THe Large Group got its start in 2013 and held a monthly residency at Blu Jazz in Akron, OH from January 2016-July 2017. Through the Blu Jazz Masterclass Foundation, the group featured many special guest artists including GRAMMY Award-Winning artists Dan Pugach & Nicole Zuraitis, Grammy- Nominated NYC jazz artists Dan Wilson, as well as Dominick Farinacci, David Smith, and renowned pianist and composer Bill Dobbins.

As a 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 the International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers. Blakeslee was also a featured presenter for his composition Ephemeral at the 2024 International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers Symposium at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.