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Samson Trinh
At VCU, he studied composition and jazz arranging with Doug Richards (founder of the school’s jazz program) and saxophone with Skip Gailes, John Winn, and principal New York Philharmonic saxophonist, Albert Regni. In 2005, he was the winner of Richmond Jazz Society's prestigious Joe Kennedy, Jr. Scholarship. Samson is an alumnus at New York's Manhattan School of Music where he studied jazz composition with well-known composer, Michael Abene.
From December 2003 to November 2005, Samson became co-owner and booking manager for Richmond, VA's Upper East Side Jazz Lounge, which featured a great wealth of talented musicians in the Richmond scene. He has performed, composed, opened, and recorded with/for Plunky Branch, Fighting Gravity, Al Jarreau, Nellie McKay, Mulgrew Miller, Desiree Roots, John Winn, Richmond Jazz Society, Virginia Commonwealth University's Jazz Orchestra I, and members of the Richmond Symphony.
Samson is also the founder and musical director of the 17-piece Upper East Side Big Band. The organization is made up with the finest young musicians in the capital of Virginia. Their repertoire features the swingin’ big band sounds of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller. The Upper East Side Big Band’s vocalist and pianist, Adrian Duke, will also blow listeners away as he croons popular standards from the Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles songbook. In 2005, the band opened up for Kool & The Gang at Richmond, VA's Jazz on the James.
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Samson Trinh: Very Strange Night
by Michael P. Gladstone
File under: “What I did in my senior year". As a senior at VCU (Virginia Commonweath University), twenty-one year-old Samson Trinh completed this album for which he wrote all but one of the tunes and hired some of the best musicians from the Richmond, Virginian area, including members of his own Upper East Side Big Band. In addition to writing nine sings, he further arranged, conducted and produced this album.
Trinh's goal was to create some sort of ...
read moreSamson Trinh: Very Strange Night
by Jack Bowers
Samson Trinh is a composer/arranger/orchestrator / bandleader/musical director/producer/saxophonist with degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University and the Manhattan School of Music (where he studied composition with pianist Mike Abene). He was the 2005 winner of the Richmond Jazz Society's Joe Kennedy Jr. Scholarship and has composed for and performed with such luminaries as Al Jarreau, Mulgrew Miller, Nellie McKay, Desiree Roots and others. He's the founder/director of the seventeen-piece Upper East Side Big Band and was co-owner and booking manager from ...
read moreSamson Trinh: Very Strange Night
by Jim Santella
This collection of music school composition projects says a lot about the student and his university. When finishing his BM in Jazz Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, Samson Trinh held a CD release party at his senior recital. He hired several musicians (listed below) and made this eclectic recording, which features compositions and arrangements from his senior year. While the recording is only 35 minutes long, it covers a wide range of musical styles, from big band and swing to ...
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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson
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Samson Trinh
Location: Richmond
Instrument: Composer / conductor
