Sam Newsome
Sam Newsome (born April 28, 1965 in Salisbury , Virginia ) is an American jazz saxophonist.
Newsome grew up in Hampton , Virginia, and began working with musicians including James Genus , Steve Wilson, and Billy Drummond at the age of fifteen . After graduating from high school, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston from 1983 , where he studied saxophone with Bill Pierce , Andy McGhee and George Garzone and composition with Hal Crook , Fred Lipsius and Herb Pomeroy . His relationships with musicians such as Danilo Pérez , Javon Jackson , Cyrus Chestnut , Mark Whitfield , Antonio Hart and Mark Turner also date from this period .
After graduating, Newsome toured the US and Europe with the Donald Byrd quintet (with Donald Brown , Ron McWhorter and Billy Kilson ) in the summer of 1988 . The following year he went to New York, where he played with Donald Harrison , Roy Haynes , Mark Whitfield and James Genus. During a performance with Justin Robinson at the Blue Note Jazz Club , Terence Blanchard became aware of him, of which he was a member for five years. During this time he worked on three CDs and several film soundtracks.
In 1996 Newsome formed the band Global Unity , which included singer Elisabeth Kontomanou , oud player Amos Hoffman , guitarist Marvin Sewell , pianist Jean-Michel Pilc , bassist Ugonna Okegwo and percussionists Gilad and Satoshi Takeishi , and with whom he had two albums recorded.
Newsome has been working on compositions for saxophone solo on behalf of the Jerome Composers Commissioning Program (JCCP) and the New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA) since 2007 .
Discographic notes
- Sam I Am (Criss Cross, 1990) with Billy Drummond, James Genus, Mulgrew Miller , Steve Nelson
- Sam Newsome & Global Unity (Palmetto, 1997)
- The Tender Side of Billy Strayhorn (Steeplechase, 1998) with Bruce Barth, Matt Wilson
- Straighthorn , 2000
- This Masquerade (Steeplechase, 2000) with Bruce Barth , Gene Jackson , Ugonna Okegwo
- Global Unity with the band and Melainie Baker , Matt Balitsaris , Jeff Berman , Adam Cruz , Gilad Dumbek , Kahlil Kwame , 2001
- Sam Newsome's Groove Project 24/7 (Satchmo, 2006) with Jerome Harris , Greg Lewis
- Monk Abstraction , 2006
- Art of the Soprano, Vol. 1 , 2012, solo
- Sam Newsome / Jean-Michel Pilc : Magic Circle (2017)
- Chaos Theory (2019)
Web links
- Sam Newsome website
- Debbie Burke: From the Inside Out: Sam Newsome's Uncanny Grasp of the Soprano Sax (interview). Debbie Burke, January 8, 2018, accessed January 8, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Newsome, Sam |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz saxophonist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 28, 1965 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Salisbury , Virginia |