Sam Newsome

Soprano Saxophonist

Improviser
Solo Performer

Sound Enthusiast

69th Annual Critics Poll

It was nice to place in the top five in this year's DownBeat Poll.

Featured Review

Please check out my new review in the February 2021 issue of the New York City Jazz Record. John Sharpe did a wonderful job reviewing my triple release: Sonic Journey (Live at the Redroom); Subspace Interception (Live at the Women from Space Festival); Free Wyoming (Live at the Metro Coffee Co.) Also, check out the review of We've Had Enough featuring Fay Victor's Sound Noise Funk.

2021 Concert Dates

Sunday, January 17, 2021, @ 4:00 PM
3rd Sunday Jazz With The Beyond Flute Group At Zoom, Online!

Judy Silvano, voice
Cheryl Pyle, flute
Haruna Fukazawa, flute
Gene Coleman, flute
Claire de Brunner, bassoon
Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Michael Eaton, tenor sax

Thursday, February 11, 2021 @ 8:00 pm
Fay Victor: Album Release for SoundNoiseFUNK’s WE’VE HAD ENOUGH!
Fay Victor, voice
Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Joe Morris, guitar
Reggie Nicholson
Roulette via Zoom
(Will post link closer to the date)

Thursday, February 18, 2021 @ 8:00 PM
Online_Salon series
Sam Newsome Trio
Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Hilliard Greene, bass
Reggie Nicholson, drums

Wednesday, March 3, 2021 @ 8:00 PM
Writers Guild Spoken Word Series
Sam Newsome, solo saxophone
Zoom (Will post link close to the date of the show)

Thursday, March 4, 2021 @ 5:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Smalls Jazz Club
Sam Newsome Quartet
Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Angelica Sanchez, piano
Hilliard Greene, bass
Reggie Nicholson, drums
Zoom (Will post link closer to the date

Tuesday, March 16, 2021 @ 5:00 PM
FSU - College of Music
Saxophone Masterclass w/ Geoffrey Diebel, Assistant Professor of Saxophone

ZOOM (will post link closer to the date)

Wednesday, April 21, 2021 @ 7:30 PM
Bar Bayeux Wednesday Night LIVE Stream sponsored by KeyedUp
Sam Newsome Quartet

Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Angelica Sanchez, piano
Hilliard Greene, bass
Reggie Nicholson, drums
Zoom (Will post link closer to the date

Saturday, June 12, 2021@ 3:00 PM
First Street Green Cultural Park - Arts for Art (in-person)
Sam Newsome Trio
Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Hilliard Greene, bass
Reggie Nicholson, drums
33 E. 1st Street
New York, NY
10003

July 17, 2021
Newton Jazz Festival
Bushwich, Brooklyn
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

July 18, 2021 @ all day
Saxophone Madness Summer Intensive (Guest clinician)
Tony Malaby, July 16
Chris Cheek, July 17
Sam Newsome, July 18
These sessions are sponsored by the New York Jazz Workshop and they will also be hybrid.
REGISTER HERE

August 7, 2021
Downtown Music Series @ Oliver Street Cafe
Three sets: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
2:00 PM - John Sinton, bari sax Sam Newsome, soprano sax, Daniel Carter, woodwinds
3:00 PM - Matana Roberts
4:00 PM - Laura Cocks
5 Oliver Street
New York, NY
10038

October 9, 2021
Chaos Theory Saxophone Quartet
Soup & Sound Series (time and location TBA)
Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Caroline Davis, soprano sax
Don Chapman, soprano sax
Catherine Sikora, soprano sax

October 2021 Tour
Fay Victor's SoundNoise Funk
Fay Victor, voice
Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Joe Morris, guitar
Reggie Nicholson

Friday, October 22, 2021, Baltimore, MD (An Die Musik)
Saturday, October 23, 2021 - Philadelphia, PA (The Fire Museum)
Sunday, October 24, 2021 - Washington, DC (Rhizome)
Wednesday, October 27, 2021 - Chicago, IL (Constellation)
Thursday, October 28, 2021 - Ann Arbor, MI (EdgeFest Jazz Festival)

Latest News!

69th Annual Critics Poll

Received a nomination in the Soprano Saxophone category in the 69th Annual Critics Poll in DownBeat Magazine.

List of nominees:

Jane Ira Bloom
Dave Liebman
Jane Bunnett
Branford Marsalis
Sam Newsome

2021 Jazz Journalists Awards - Soprano Saxophone Nominee

Was named a nominee in the Soprano Saxophone category by the 2021 Jazz Journalists Association.

List of nominees:

Branford Marsalis

Jane Ira Bloom

Sam Newsome

13th Encuesta Anual A Periodistas Internacionales (13th Annual International Critics Poll)

Received a nomination in the Soprano Saxophone category.

Evan Parker
Sam Newsome
Dave Liebman
Ingrid Laubrock
Roscoe Mithcell
Jane Ira Bloom

Musical Projects

Chaos Theory Unit Saxophone Quartet

Chaos Theory Unit is an experimental saxophone quartet consisting of four soprano saxophones. The instruments are often performed in prepared states.

Members:

Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Caroline Davis, soprano sax
Rodney Chapman, soprano sax
Catherine Sikora, soprano sax

Sam Newsome Quartet

This modern jazz/experimental quartet features Sam Newsome's original compositions, as well as the re-imagining of commonly known jazz classics..

Members:

Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Angelical Sanchez, piano
Hilliard Greene, bass
Reggie Nicholson, drums

Sam Newsome Trio

This trio plays all improvised music. Much of the musical activity is directed by Newsome's personal vocabulary of sounds and experimentations.

Members:

Sam Newsome, soprano sax
Hilliard Greene, bass
Reggie Nicholson, drums

Sam Newsome(Solo)

During his solo concerts, Newsome takes listeners on a musical journey from the early beginnings of jazz to the unexplored terrains of the avant garde.

BIOGRAPHY

"Newsome expands the sound of a single soprano into a one-man band."

- Mark Corroto, All About Jazz

New York-based saxophonist and composer Sam Newsome often works in the medium of solo saxophone, an approach for which he gained world-wide critical acclaim with his 2009 recording, Blue Soliloquy: Solo Works for Soprano Saxophone. This recording received a five-star review in Downbeat magazine.

Newsome has since released several critically acclaimed solo saxophone CDs:

Sonic Journey: Live at the Red Room (2020);
Chaos Theory: Song Cycles for Prepared Saxophone (2019);
Sopranoville: Works for Prepared and Non-Prepared Saxophone (2017);
The Straight Horn of Africa (2014);
The Solo Concert: Sam Newsome Plays Monk and Ellington (2013);
The Art of the Soprano, Vol. 1 (2012).

Ed Enright, from Downbeat magazine, called The Straight Horn of Africa, “a modern masterpiece.”

Many of the notes and sounds used in his compositions and improvisations stem from his sound palette of extended techniques and saxophone preparations. Newsome often attaches tube extensions to the neck of the soprano that significantly changes the timbre of the instrument as well as extends the soprano’s range by an octave or two. Conceptually speaking, Newsome sees himself more along the lines of a visual artist who paints with notes and sounds rather than shapes and colors.

Newsome has also received numerous accolades for his adventurous work, including this year’s 2020 Instant Award in Improvised Music, along with fellow avant-gardists Peter Brotzmann and John Butcher. He was also named a nominee for Soprano Saxophonist of the Year by the 2020 Jazz Journalist Association. Past recognitions include the 2018 New Music USA Grant, the 2018 Alpert/Ragdale Prize in Music Composition and the 2016 NYFA Fellowship for Music Composition

In addition to his solo work, Newsome leads a trio with Hilliard Greene and Reggie Nicholson. He is a frequent collaborator with drummer Andrew Cyrille, vocalist Fay Victor, and tours regularly with Pepperland, a music and dance work by Mark Morris and Ethan Iverson that pays tribute to The Beatles.

PRESS QUOTES

"Sam Newsome, one of our most talented and important jazz voices, completely outdoes himself with Sopranoville.”

Terrell Holmes, The New York City Jazz Record

"Newsome cuts around the edges of the soprano’s fundamentally sweet sound to mimic double-reed instruments from the Middle East, the native singing of Mongolia, bamboo flutes from the Orient."

Nick DeRiso, Something Else Reviews

"A cult classic, for the soprano cult.

Otto Kokke, The Burning Ambulance

"As solo sax recordings go, I remain a big fan of the Anthony Braxton / John Butcher styles and approaches. However, in view of Sopranoville, I’ll be adding Newsome to the list of individuals whose future output is of interest."

Avant Music News

"...extended technique but taken to the next power."

Ken Ackermann, All About Jazz

"A nice look at the outer edges from a cat with the chops to pull it off."

MIdwest Records

"On his latest album Newsome has pushed the limits on his saxophone exploring experimental and avant-garde sounds."

Jon Neudorf, Sea of Tranquility

Newsome expands the sound of a single soprano into a one-man band."

He is a total master of his instrument, and he can play extraordinary melodies on it.

Phil Freeman, The Wire