Other Projects & Collaborations

Fourth Landscape

with Benoît Delbecq (piano), Gerry Hemingway (drums), Samuel Blaser (trombone)
 
On January 22, 2013, three innovative musicians recorded at Studio de Meudon in Paris, France for nuscope recordings. Swiss trombonist Samuel Blaser, who currently resides in Berlin, Germany and Brooklyn, New York, is best known for his meditative, original, and exciting trombone playing. Paris resident Benoît Delbecq, of course, is a truly original pianist who merges such seemingly disparate influences as Gyorgy Ligeti, John Cage, Steve Lacy, and even electronica into a new and refreshing style. Gerry Hemingway, now resident in Luzern, Switzerland, is a penultimate drummer and composer who has performed with many musicians including Anthony Braxton and Ray Anderson.

HELVETICUS: Humair Blaser Känzig

with Samuel Blaser (trombone), Heiri Känzig (bass), Daniel Humair (drums)
 
Samuel Blaser joins forces with two other Swiss legends of the international jazz scene: drummer Daniel Humair and bassist Heiri Känzig. "1291" is a tribute album to their homeland, Switzerland, founded in 1291 on the meadow of the Grütli by the three original cantons.

Pierre Favre and Samuel Blaser

with Pierre Favre (drums)
 
Pierre Favre, the great pioneer of modern drumming, the sound color painter among jazz drummers, is working in duo with trombonist Samuel Blaser. Both of them have a fine feeling for the right tone, for what fits together, for the clear form. An interesting duo: trombone and drums! Together Blaser and Favre stand for two generations of top Swiss jazz musicians!

SONGS

with Sarah Maria Sun (soprano), Oscar Strasnoy (piano), Mathieu Ogier (DJ) and Nathalie Amstutz (harp)

SONGS revolves around one of the most iconic pieces of 20th century repertoire, a series of popular folk songs by Italian composer Luciano Berio for mezzo-soprano and small ensemble. Inspired by Berio's approach in the mid-1960's, Oscar Strasnoy and Samuel Blaser's musical work here is anchored in that same folk tradition. Strasnoy works with traditional music of the Canton of Grisons (interesting for its very special language spoken here, and because of its "minority" status). The jazzman from Chaux-de-Fonds moves in the footsteps of a Bartók or a Kurtág with Mississippi Delta blues inspiration creating a remarkably personal works.

Gerry Hemingway & Samuel Blaser

The Players: Gerry Hemingway (drums) & Samuel Blaser (trombone)

A really great setting for drummer Gerry Hemmingway – an album that has him improvising live with trombonist Samuel Blaser – a fantastic musician who's one of the freshest trombone talents we've heard in years! In previous comments, we've liked Blaser to a modern day heir to the genius of 60s trombonists like Roswell Rudd and Grachan Moncur – and those words definitely hold true here, as Blaser delivers a wondrous balance between new sounds and tuneful moments, fresh ideas and a longer tradition on his horn – all in ways that make Hemmingway sound even more creative than usual. The album features six duets, all recorded live in a church during a jazz festival in the Netherlands