Born: April 17, 1979 Primary Instrument: Saxophone
”Subtlety and restraint, combined with power and purpose.” -Cadence Magazine, September 2000
Saxophonist, multi-reedist, and composer Sam Sadigursky has played and recorded with artists as diverse as Ray Brown and Brad Mehldau. He is the winner of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award, the NFAA/IAJE Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship, and the John Coltrane Young Artist Award. Currently residing in Brooklyn, New York, he performs in many top jazz and world music venues and has toured the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Japan. He has also played in the Monterey, JVC, Aspen, Ravinia, and CMJ festivals and is featured on saxophone and flute on the score to the film Seeing Other People, starring Jay Mohr and Julianne Nicholson. As a composer, he has been commissioned by vocal groups, film directors, and has collaborated with modern dance choreographers in live performance of their works. He can often be heard with the Mingus Orchestra, Gabe Kahane, Lucia Pulido, Edmar Castaneda, Folklore Urbano, La Cumbiamba e Neye, and others. In 2007, a collection of his vocal compositions based on poetry, entitled The Words Project, was released to critical acclaim on New Amsterdam Records, hailed as “an impressive debut” by the New York Times and given a four star review in Time Out New York. Noted music critic Steve Smith called it “that rare anomaly: a jazz-and- poetry record that sounds utterly natural and convincing” and later named it one of the top ten releases of the year in Time Out New York. Sadigursky has also appeared as a sideman on numerous recordings for labels such as Fresh Sound/New Talent, Playscape Recordings, Chonta Records, and World Culture Music.
“[One] whose name and music you'll hear a lot of in the future.” - Richard Kamins, Hartford Courant
On “The Words Project” (New Amsterdam), his impressive new debut, the multireedist Sam Sadigursky sets contemporary poetry to plausible musical settings . - Nate Chinen, NY Times, 9/14/07
“that rare anomaly: a jazz-and-poetry record that sounds utterly natural and convincing” - Steve Smith, www.nightafternight.blog.com
“A wonderful surprise for a poetry translator to have one’s lines set to music. An ominous, solemn score with a piercing voice rising from disquiet. Makes you feel quite ill at ease, as good poetry should.” - Willem Groenewegan (poet, translator of Mark Boog’s “Water, Aspirin, You”)
“The core band is inventive, yet watertight, while Sadigursky thrills with his solo turn.” - Brad Walseth, jazzchicago.net
“Evocative poetry and lean melody lines” - Suzanne Lorge, All About Jazz, August 2007
“Entrancing... hypnotic.... The Words Project” is a musical world full of riches and you should partake in this feast.” - Richard Kamins, www.courant.com
“Vibrant and thought-provoking... Sadigursky has truly created one of the more fascinating records of recent years. His ambition is rewarded by a set of performances that is a brilliant effort from start to finish.” - Jay Collins, Cadence Magazine
“Profound... sublime...” - Jazzman Magazine (France)
Sam Sadigursky - Words Project II - New Amsterdam Records - summer 2008 release
Sam Sadigursky - The Words Project- New Amsterdam Records (2007)
Pablo Mayor & Folklore Urbano - Corazon - Chonta Records (2008)
Rob Mosher - Storytime - self-released (Sept., 2008)
Andrea Tierra (feat. Edmar Castaneda) - Melodia Verde - Arpayvoz Records (2007)
Marvin Diz - Habla el Tambor - s/r - 2008
Pete Robbins - Hate, Laugh, Shimmy - Fresh Sound/New Talent (2008)
Robbers on High Street - Grand Animals - New Line Records (2007)
Julie Hardy - The Wish - World Culture Music (2007)
Coba - Cancion Mandala - Chonta Records (2006)
Pete Robbins - Waits and Measures - Playscape Recordings (2006)
Jason Rigby - Translucent Spaces - Fresh Sound/New Talent (2006)
Spirals - Sam Sadigursky/Jacob Sacks/Eivind Opsvik/Don Peretz - Unleaded Records (1999)
Eiji Kitamura - Jazz Party (feat. Ray Brown) - Jazz Cook (Japan, 1998)
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