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Michael Sarian

"Sarian's trumpet literally speaks"Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz

Trumpeter and composer Michael Sarian has been praised for his "unique compositional and instrumental voice" (Friedrich Kunzmann, All About Jazz) and his "endlessly renewable strain of lyric improvisation regardless of context or material." (Peter Margasak, Downbeat Magazine).

Born in Toronto and raised in Buenos Aires, Michael relocated to New York City in 2012. Michael has performed at some of the most iconic international stages, including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Getxo Blues Festival in Spain, Teatro Colón in Argentina, and at some of New York City's most beloved venues such as the Blue Note Jazz Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center, BRIC JazzFest, The Beacon Theater, and Central Park SummerStage. He has appeared on WNYC's Soundcheck with John Schaefer, NPR's World Cafe, and many more.

Michael's artistic output is as diverse as his background: he has released two albums with his quartet on ears&eyes Records which "create alternatively forceful and haunting sounds that dwell outside of the jazz mainstream in their own realm of beauty” (Jerome Wilson, AllAboutJazz), has released several duet recordings with pianist Matthew Putman on 577Records, electronic avant-garde music with Barcelona based pianist Olec Mün on piano and coffee records, and several albums with his septet Michael Sarian & The Chabones.

Michael is currently joining the Jonas Brothers on The Tour as they play at stadiums and arenas across the globe, including Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, Dodgers Stadium, the 02 Arena in London, and more. He also performs regularly with his big band, Michael Sarian & The Big Chabones, is a stable member of The NYChillharmonic, the Bette Smith band, among other collaborations and projects. Michael was a semifinalist at the prestigious DCJazzPrix in 2020 and 2023, a 2020 Performer-Composer in Residence at Westben Centre for Connection & Creativity, and artist in residence at Culture Lab LIC for the winter/spring 2022 season. 

Michael is a DelQuadro Trumpets Artist, currently playing the 'Grizzly' model. He also performs on his signature 'SARIAN' custom line of mouthpieces made in France by Atelier Donat, and is endorsed by Applied Microphone Technology (AMT), performing and recording with their AMT Q7-P800BM microphone.

Gear

DelQuadro Trumpets - Grizzly Model

'SARIAN' custom line of mouthpieces made in France by Atelier Donat

Applied Microphone Technology (AMT) AMT Q7-P800BM microphone


Tags

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Radio & Podcasts

Michael Sarian, Matias Formica, Pandelis Karayorgis & Bill Cole

Read "Michael Sarian, Matias Formica, Pandelis Karayorgis & Bill Cole" reviewed by Maurice Hogue


All hail the pure improvisers! This episode of OMJ features several great ones all at the top of their game: trumpeter Michael Sarian, Argentinean saxophonist Matias Formica, Matt Mitchell & Tim Berne, Kaja Draksler & Susana Santos Silva, Zoh Amba with a powerhouse group of friends, Boston pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, Chicago's Rooms Trio, Southeast Asia's River People, plus the always intriguing sounds of Bill Cole's Untempered Ensemble. Buckle up! Playlist The Thing with Joe McPhee “The Thing" from ...

1
Album Review

Michael Sarian: New Aurora

Read "New Aurora" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Giunto al quarto album da leader, Michael Sarian esplora una direzione espressiva diversa da quanto evidenziato col settetto Michel Sarian & the Chabones e con la big band The Big Chabones. Ispirandosi allo stile di trombettisti come Kenny Wheeler, Tomasz Stanko ed Enrico Rava, il trombettista—di famiglia armena, canadese di nascita, argentino di formazione e newyorchese da una decina d'anni—accentua l'estetica impressionista già evidente in Leon con brani lenti ed evocativi, talvolta legati alla tradizione musicale armena. ...

9
Album Review

Michael Sarian: New Aurora

Read "New Aurora" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Trumpeter Michael Sarian leads two large-sized groups, The Chabones and The Big Chabones, that utilize multiple horns and electronic sounds in high energy arrangements. This quartet recording is a different story. Sarian is the lone horn here, playing trumpet on the first track and flugelhorn on the rest, while the music itself is strictly acoustic. Much of it has a gentle, folkish presence, although the leader's wilder impulses also make their presence known. The music's quiet side emerges ...

9
Album Review

Michael Sarian: New Aurora

Read "New Aurora" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


With New Aurora, Canadian trumpeter Michael Sarian takes a few steps down a different path to his past projects, leaving bigger ensembles and electric instrumentations behind to focus on ten arrangements carried out in an acoustic quartet setting. In this more dynamic light, the trumpeter is given space to unfold and spread his melodic voice and personal language. Sarian takes advantage of this in a minimal way. A heightened sense of sophistication can be heard as a result, leaving the ...

1
Album Review

The NYChillharmonic: Mean

Read "Mean" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Having toured across five continents, you have to figure that no matter what musical element dares to share physical space within Brooklyn keyboard/vocalist Sara McDonald's brain-bending flight path, it is going to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and turned it into something forceful. Something fierce. Something startlingly her own. Leader of the eighteen piece, (sometimes twenty, sometimes more or less), orchestral-punk-prog-jazz-rock the NYChillharmonic, McDonald unveils the utterly invigorating “Mean," a churning, sawing, simmering shard of ...

Album Review

Michael Sarian & The Chadbones: Leon

Read "Leon" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Canadese di nascita, il trombettista e compositore Michael Sarian ha vissuto infanzia e adolescenza in Argentina assimilando vari elementi di quel patrimonio musicale. Dopo il trasferimento negli Stati Uniti nel 2012 -dove ha acquisito un master's degree in jazz studies alla New York University -guida un quartetto e una formazione orchestrale, esprimendo una ricca sintesi tra ritmi argentini, rock e jazz contemporaneo. Questo terzo disco sviluppa alcune linee dei precedenti lavori ( Subtitles e The Escape Suite) attraverso cinque nuove ...

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Album Review

Michael Sarian & The Chabones: The Escape Suite

Read "The Escape Suite" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


When he was all of one year of age, trumpeter Michael Sarian relocated from his birthplace in Canada to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Learning from some of that country's top musicians, Sarian began touring in Europe while still a teenager. Having worked in rock, disco and big bands, he eventually moved to New York where he studied jazz at NYU. While enrolled in that program he played and recorded with Joe Lovano and fusion guitarist Wayne Krantz among others.Sarian's ...

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Recording

New Album "Subtitles" From Trumpeter Michael Sarian Juggles Various Jazz Styles

New Album "Subtitles" From Trumpeter Michael Sarian Juggles Various Jazz Styles

Source: Eric Taylor

My number-one favorite jazz piece remains to be “Feels So Good” (1977) by Chuck Mangione. Surprisingly, the second position has been occupied, that quickly, by the track called “El Poeta” from a newly released album, Subtitles (2014), by the now U.S.-based Canadian-Argentinian trumpeter/artist Michael Sarian. Not only for jazz aficionados but also for anyone who is curious enough to sample a platter of various jazz styles, Sarian’s début album covers an assortment of flavors, from the subtle, short, and simple ...

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Interview

Interview: Trumpeter/Composer Michael Sarian

Source: Eric Taylor

Q: What are your goals as an artist? A: Right now my goal is to keep busy: keep playing, keep composing, keep working. Working on new projects, teaching, working behind the scenes at a non-profit - everything affects the music, and the more I do, the more I’ll have to say musically. Long-term, my goal as an artist is something I think most artists share: to stay relevant. I feel like I have something to say musically, whether it's composing ...

"Sarian's trumpet literally speaks" Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz

"Michael Sarian... reveals an endlessly renewable strain of lyric improvisation regardless of context or material. He achieves a luxurious sprawl that summons the classic spaciousness of vintage ECM albums" (Peter Margasak, Downbeat Magazine)

"a must-listen for fans of innovative and captivating jazz” (Matt Micucci, JAZZIZ Magazine)

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Primary Instrument

Trumpet

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

After the Rain:...

Self Produced
2022

buy

Living at the End of...

ears&eyes Records
2022

buy

The Art Of...

Nardis Music
2021

buy

A Lifeboat (Part I)

577 Records
2021

buy

MAKARA

piano and coffee records
2021

buy

Mean

Self Produced
2020

buy

Videos

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