Home » Jazz Musicians » Sam Kirmayer

Sam Kirmayer

Guitarist and composer Sam Kirmayer, plays straight-ahead jazz with “fearlessness and momentum”– Katie Malloch (CBC Jazz Beat & Tonic). One of CBC Music’s picks for the “35 best Canadian jazz musicians under 35”, Kirmayer’s playing has been described as “sharp and clean melodic lines peppered with exquisite chording and comping… never overstated and always expressed with good taste”– C. Michael Bailey (All About Jazz).

Kirmayer’s debut recording, Opening Statement (Chromatic Audio 2017), was well received, earning 4-stars from All About Jazz and winning the Julian Award of Excellence for Emerging Canadian Jazz Artists from CJSF 90.1 FM. His follow-up High and Low (Cellar Live, 2018) features New York based-organist Ben Paterson and first-call Montreal drummer Dave Laing. In his liner notes for the recording, Ottawa Citizen jazz critic Peter Hum notes that “Kirmayer chose wisely when he picked sidemen for his new project that casts his warm tone and lyrical focus in a different setting… The simpatico and eloquence that they’ve achieved on High and Low sound like the hallmarks of a seasoned band.” The album was named best of the year for 2018 by Quebec’s main jazz blog, sortiesjazznights.com.

Sam completed an Undergraduate degree in Jazz Performance at McGill University in 2016 with Outstanding Achievement and Dean's Honour List standings. He has been the recipient of several awards and scholarships from Vanier College, McGill University and the University of Montreal. Kirmayer is the president and co-founder of the Société Jazz de Saint-Henri and maintains an active performance schedule as both a leader and sideman, with frequent performances throughout eastern Canada.

Awards

Julian Award for Excellence for Emerging Canadian Jazz Artists (2018)


Tags

29
Album Review

Sam Kirmayer: In This Moment

Read "In This Moment" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Montreal-based guitarist Sam Kirmayer leads a well-modulated sextet on In This Moment, wherein all ten of the album's numbers were written by Kirmayer. That is both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, Kirmayer's themes are, for the most part, light, sunny and squarely in the jazz tradition; on the other, none of them is likely to enter the standard canon. They are more pleasant than memorable, which evidently suits his purpose. The ensemble, however, gives ...

3
Album Review

Sean Fyfe: Late Night

Read "Late Night" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Sean Fyfe is a peripatetic Canadian jazz pianist who has vagabonded his musical way from Vancouver Island to Montreal to New York City and now London. He has not forgotten the friends he met along the way and so his cohorts for the session are some buddies from Montreal: guitarist Sam Kirmayer, bassist Adrian Vedady and drummer André White. In keeping with the concept of staying with things that are familiar, of the eight-composition playlist for ...

30
Album Review

Sean Fyfe Quartet: Late Night

Read "Late Night" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The opening number on pianist Sean Fyfe's latest album, Late Night, is “Happy," which could serve as a subtext for the album as a whole. Even when performing a solo rendition of Billy Strayhorn's mournful “Lush Life," Fyfe somehow manages to sound happy, lending a sunny counterweight to the heart-breaking sense of loss that permeates Strayhorn's jazz classic. Happy seems to be inbred in Fyfe's temperament, which is one of the reasons listening to Late Night is such a pleasure. ...

4
Album Review

Marshal Herridge: Chapter One

Read "Chapter One" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Marshal Herridge is a young bassist from Montreal who here releases his first CD, a set of energetic mainstream jazz, with a band containing three local musicians: guitarist Sam Kirmayer, pianist Andre White and drummer Guillaume Pilote. Herridge wrote all the music using a variety of familiar approaches. “HerridgeIn" has a brisk boppish melody attacked by the entire group in a lively manner, with Herridge's bowing standing out both in the opening theme statement and eventual solo. The ...

3
Album Review

Marshal Herridge: Chapter One

Read "Chapter One" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Chapter One, the debut recording from bassist Marshal Herridge, showcases his admirable Montreal-based quartet performing nine of the leader's bright and limber compositions and arrangements. Besides keeping splendid time (his sonorous bass is recorded so prominently that not a beat is missed or undervalued), Herridge solos eloquently in the manner of his musical heroes, Paul Chambers and Scott LaFaro, whose artistry served as inspiration for the album. Exercising his prerogative as foreman, Herridge solos on every one ...

6
Album Review

Sam Kirmayer: Opening Statement

Read "Opening Statement" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Whenever a group of young musicians (in this case a guitar-led quartet from Montreal) makes its recording debut, a number of questions quickly arise. First and foremost, can they play? Check. Do they swing? Check. Is the music bright and refreshing? Check. Are they sharp and enthusiastic? Check. Do they blend well as a team? Check and check again. Having checked all the boxes, guitarist Sam Kirmayer and his colleagues produce an Opening Statement that boldly announces their arrival and ...

Read more articles
“A monster musician with an incredible tone.” — Scott Morin, CBC Music “No pretense or posturing, only musical sincerity.” — Lyle Robinson, Jazz Guitar Life "Eminently Swinging" — Ottawa Citizen "Sharp and clean melodic lines peppered with exquisite chording and comping. Kirmayer's soloing is never overstated and always expressed with good taste." — C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz "Sam Kirmayer is one of the rising stars of Jazz Guitar in Canada." — Frédéric Cardin, ICI Musique

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

In This Moment

Cellar Live
2022

buy

Late Night

Cellar Records
2022

buy

Chapter One

Bonneville Records
2019

buy

High And Low

Cellar Live
2018

buy

Opening Statement

Chromatic Audio
2017

buy

Helga

From: Chapter One
By Sam Kirmayer

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.