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Sam Comerford
Sam Comerford (b. 1991 Salem, MA, USA) is a musician and composer from Dublin, Ireland, living in Brussels, Belgium.
He composes for and leads the trio Thunderblender, whose critically acclaimed debut album Stillorgan (WERF records, 2020) was described by RTE Lyric FM as “the estrangement of the familiar”. Upcoming projects as a bandleader include a solo saxophone album based on the music of Irish fiddler Tommie Potts, a second album with Thunderblender, and the soundtrack of experimental horror film Hexham Heads.
Alongside his own musical activities he maintains a busy schedule touring and recording in various projects incorporating elements of jazz, improvised music, and Irish music. These include Lander & Gorik (BE) Neil Ó Loclainn’s Cuar (IE), Hendrik Lasure & warm bad (BE), Aerie (DE/IE/CH), Umbra (IE), Insufficient Funs (IE), Augusto Pirroda Septet (IT/BE), ODIL (BE/CH/FR), Mobilhome (BE), Utsav Lal & Ragas to Reels, Teh Trio (TW), Hayden Chisholm saxophone quartet (IE, 2013), and European Saxophone Ensemble (2012-13), led by Guillaume Orti.
He has a masters in Jazz saxophone from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (KCB), and a BA in Jazz performance from Newpark Music Centre (now DCU) in Dublin. He has been awarded the Toots Thielemans Award from the KCB, the “Best Soloist” prize from the Concours Tremplin d’Avignon, and has been supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Music Network, and the Vlaamse Overheid.
He has played at Jazz Middelheim, Handelsbeurs, De Bijloke, Flagey, Theatre National Bruxelles, KVS, Gaume Jazz Festival, (BE) 12 Points Festival (IE), Jazzdor (DE and FR), Schaffhauser Jazzfestival (CH), Match&Fuse festivals (IE and CH), Vilnius, Belgrade, Cork, Dublin, Manchester and Galway jazz festivals, Fat Cat Jazz Club Mongolia, Southbank Centre, Vortex Jazz club, Café OTO (UK), Meeting Jazz club (CN), Blue Frog, Mumbai (IN), and Sappho Jazz club (TW).
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Insufficient Funs: Chunk
by Ian Patterson
Back for even more fun, Irish stalwarts Matthew Jacobson and Sam Comerford follow up their EP Insufficient Funs (Self Produced, 2016) with their debut album, Chunk. Insufficient Funs gigs have been intermittent in the intervening decade. Still, drummer Jacobson and saxophonist Comerford have kept their collaborative fires burning in both Ingo Hipp's AERIE and Chris Guilfoyle's Umbra. That Chunk tops the hour playing time may be par for the course for an album these days, but for a duo of ...
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Piergiorgio Pirro: fold/unfold/refold
by Neri Pollastri
Pianista italiano ormai da tempo residente a Bruxelles, Piergiorgio Pirro ha iniziato con una formazione accademica (e un amore per la musica classica) presso i conservatori Giordano di Foggia e S. Cecilia di Roma, per poi diplomarsi in Piano Jazz alla scuola Bonamici di Pisa, non senza un passaggio per Siena Jazz, e concludere (per ora) il suo percorso al Koninklijk Conservatorium di Bruxelles. Ed è proprio nella capitale belga che Pirro ha assemblato il suo quartetto, con ...
Continue ReadingUmbra: West
by Ian Patterson
American road trips have long inspired writers, from Jack Kerouac, John Steinbeck and Tom Wolfe, to Hunter S. Thompson, Robert M. Pirsig and Bill Bryson. Fewer are the extended works, similarly inspired, written by musicians. Some things, it seems, may be easier put into words. Umbra's West is inspired by founding member Chris Guilfoyle's 2017 road trip, as evidenced through the song titles, through North America's Western states to Canada. It marks Umbra's full debut, but can be seen as ...
Continue ReadingThunderblender: Last Minute Panic
by Ian Patterson
A rising name on the European jazz/improvised music scene, Brussels-based Irish saxophonist Sam Comerford possesses eggs and baskets aplenty, playing regularly in Ingo Hipp's AERIE, Chris Guilfoyle's Umbra, Eve Beuven's Heptatomic, Manolo Cabras' Brilliant Corners, as well as in a duo with Matthew Jacobson. Since 2015, however, Comerford has assumed the mantle of leader with Thunderblender, a trio featuring Belgians Hendrik Lasure on piano and Jens Bouttery on drums. Recorded live in 2016, the EP-length Last Minute Panic sees the ...
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