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Described
recently in The Jazz Review as "a fine player, at times reminiscent of Coltrane
and Getz", Sam (26) is an experienced and versatile musician. Now a fully professional
player, Sam took up the saxophone at the age of nine. Following early experience in the Wolverhampton Young Entertainers and the Wolverhampton Orchestra, performing
a range of classical and other styles of music, Sam developed his jazz musicianship
in the much respected Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra with whom he rapidly emerged
as a key featured soloist. He joined the Walsall Jazz Orchestra at thirteen
and since then he has won the prestigious Musicians Union "Best Saxophonist" award
in their national big band competition on two separate occasions. In 1998 he
was offered a free year's scholarship to study music at Miami State University following
his blistering performance with the Walsall Jazz Orchestra at the Montreux Jazz
Festival.
Sam has performed with several established stars including Victor Mendoza, Olaf Vaz, Andy Sheppard, Bobby Shew, Julian Arguelles, Guy Barker and Arturo Sandoval. He has been much in demand for live performance and recording from a variety of musical directions including funk, soul, salsa and hip-hop. As a result Sam is as comfortable with these styles as he is with jazz. At the present time he performs regularly with the Walsall Jazz Orchestra, Svengali (modern jazz big band),Orchestra Huracan (salsa - latin), Goldblade (punk) and Papa Mantra (britpop) He has twice toured with former Shirley Bassey MD Mike Alexander's Orchestra accompanying singer Jane McDonald, including appearances on Granada TV.
Sam has been a member of the Tim Amann Quartet since its inception in 1995 and turns in a storming display on the albums "Xtet" and "The Scarecrows". His naturally charismatic live playing makes him a popular and exciting performer and he is capable of attacking flair and flamboyant technique but also of considerable taste and sensitivity in his playing.