Jazz Articles about Sam Norris

About Sam Norris

Album Review

Sam Norris: Wood/Gold - Solo Saxophone Volume 1

Read "Wood/Gold - Solo Saxophone Volume 1" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
June 23, 2026

This is music where you need to embrace the journey, not the destination: The music might not have a clear beginning, middle, and end in the traditional sense; enjoying the moment-to-moment unfolding of sounds and ideas is the purpose. Sometimes the act of listening to a saxophone is rewarded because the musician wants to play notes to express some ideas. Rarer is listening to a player because they are in love with the instrument in an almost sensuous ...

Album Review

Ronan Guilfoyle's Bemusement Arcade: At Swing, Two Birds

Read "At Swing, Two Birds" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
May 13, 2025

If there were Grammys for the most punning name for a jazz band, or for the most enigmatic album title, then Irish bassist Ronan Guilfoyle could well bag a brace. The title of the wonderfully coined Bemusement Arcade's debut album is a wordplay on Irish humorist Flann O'Brien's At Swim Two Birds (Longman Green & Co., 1939) --a wild and woolly work of satirical postmodern metafiction beloved by existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, writer Aldous Huxley and rock 'n' blues guitarist ...

Album Review

Sam Norris: Small Things Evolved Slowly

Read "Small Things Evolved Slowly" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
August 30, 2024

The title of Sam Norris' debut album, Small Things Evolved Slowly, is sourced from an Erik Satie quote: “I took to my room and let small things evolve slowly." It is an apt title, as the album features compositions inspired by Norris' life in London that have been honed and polished in live performances over considerable time, in some cases over several years. In addition, many of the tracks advance in an unhurried manner, taking their time to open up. ...