About

“I can’t think of another alto saxophonist with a sound quite like Sam Braysher’s” ****

Dave Gelly, The Observer

“Braysher’s cool, modernist twist on old songs is just superb”

Simon Adams, Jazz Journal

“Trying to second-guess a long-gone composer’s intention is a risky exercise, and jazz improvisers usually exercise a free hand in interpreting the Great American Songbook. But the warm-toned young London saxophonist Sam Braysher is a prize-winning investigator of the early recordings and published music of Jerome Kern, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington and many others, and imagines a new jazz closely attuned to an old world.”

John Fordham, the Guardian

Short Biography

Sam Braysher’s new record (2024) takes a closer look at the fascinating music of German-American composer Kurt Weill. The London-based alto saxophonist received widespread acclaim for the two previous albums released under his own name, both of which feature renowned international collaborators. Golden Earrings, with New York pianist Michael Kanan, was described as “delightful and surprising” by Dave Gelly in the Observer, while his recent trio album with Jorge Rossy (Brad Mehldau Trio) and Tom Farmer, was praised in Jazzwise as “a triumph of intelligence and sentiment”.
Sam’s busy and varied freelance career has seen him play across Europe in a range of styles, but when leading his own bands, he takes a particular interest in interpreting lesser-played items from the American Songbook and jazz canon.

Full Biography

London-based alto saxophonist Sam Braysher’s new record takes a closer look at the fascinating music of Kurt Weill. The German-American composer is best known for songs like “Mack the Knife” and “September Song”, but Braysher showcases fresh arrangements of some lesser-known Weill pieces, traversing the worlds of jazz, European classical music, musical theatre and opera. He is joined by an all-star rhythm section and special guest Sara Dowling, winner of Best Vocalist at the British Jazz Awards (2019).

Braysher received widespread acclaim for the two albums released previously under his own name, both of which feature renowned international collaborators. Golden Earrings, with New York pianist Michael Kanan, was described as “delightful and surprising” by Dave Gelly in the Observer, while his recent trio album with Jorge Rossy (Brad Mehldau Trio) and Tom Farmer, was praised in Jazzwise as “a triumph of intelligence and sentiment”.
When leading his own bands, Sam takes a particular interest in interpreting lesser-played items from the American Songbook and jazz canon. Collaborative projects include REBOP (an international quintet featuring Jorge Rossy on vibraphone); a co-led quartet with Amsterdam guitarist Linus Eppinger; and Mighty Like the Blues (a quintet with Pete Horsfall, Jim Mullen, Shane Forbes and Mike Gorman). As a sideman, Braysher has recently been heard playing with ECM artist John Warren’s nonet, Dave Green Trio, Barry Green Trio and The London Jazz Orchestra.

Born in 1989, Sam grew up in Norfolk, moving to London aged 18 to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he was a Chartered Surveyors’ Prize winner and an Artist Fellow. He graduated with First Class Honours, and whilst studying, was a winner of the U.K. Jazz Radio Young Performers’ Award. He has played at UK venues including Ronnie Scott’s, 606 Club, Pizza Express Jazz Club, Vortex Jazz Club, Cadogan Hall, Barbican Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and the London Jazz, Marlborough Jazz, Cork Jazz and Norfolk and Norwich Festivals; and internationally at Vibraphonissimo Festival (Nuremberg), Jimmy Glass Jazz Bar (Valencia), Birdland Hamburg, Sala Lux (Granada), Jamboree (Barcelona), Cafe Central (Madrid) Bird’s Eye Jazz Club (Basel), Murphy’s Law (The Hague), Breda Jazz Festival (NL), Jazz Federation Hamburg, Sunset (Girona) and Caveau de la Huchette (Paris), among others.