BOSTON, MA—NOV. 15, 2024—Alto saxophonist/composer Sam Spear announces the release of her debut studio album on November 15, 2024. It will be available on the major streaming platforms and for purchase as a digital download and CD. Entitled “First Pitch,” this project is a mosaic of works from her formative years emerging in Boston’s music scene. Made possible by the Berklee Faculty Development recording grant, this album is a result of the first pitch for the opportunity. The name also alludes to the title of the second track, “Ode to the Pitch Doctor,” written in memory of the legendary flutist/composer/educator John Heiss who had passed away months before the recording in the summer of 2023.
Joining Spear on this album are former Berklee College of Music classmates Anastassiya Petrova on piano and Tyson Jackson on drums, former New England Conservatory classmate Ian Buss on tenor saxophone, and Berklee departmental colleague Mark Poniatowski on bass. Each person entered Spear’s life at a new phase of her growth as a musician and have continued to collaborate on countless performances within and beyond the quintet.
Sam Spear was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in the surrounding suburbs. She started to play the alto saxophone in 5th grade band and soon followed an affinity for jazz. Spear studied at the Music Settlement and Cleveland State University in her teenage years, moving to Boston in 2015 to attend Berklee College of Music where she majored in performance and jazz composition. She continued her studies at New England Conservatory and graduated with a masters in jazz studies in 2021.
Today Spear teaches at both of her alma maters — courses in arranging at Berklee and private lessons and ear training in NEC’s preparatory school. She is also an affiliated artist teaching privately at MIT and gives masterclasses around New England. In addition to leading her band, she performs with the New England Jazz Collaborative, Peter Kenagy’s Mad Monkfish Orchestra, and Bill Banfield’s Imagine Orchestra, among others. She composes prolifically and receives commissions for new works from ensembles across the country. Spear is a board member of the Gunther Schuller Society, working to perpetuate his music and ideals.
This album is a culmination of all these experiences, starting with “Castle Island” written in 2016 after exploring the south shore for the first time up until “Culpable Gray” with final edits being penciled in at the studio prior to recording. In the words of her mentor, the masterful saxophonist/composer/educator Allan Chase, “The music here tells some of the story of a new generation of jazz artists emerging in and through Boston. From this solid ‘First Pitch,’ there’s a lot of good playing and a series of new works to come.”
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Album Artwork
Sam Spear Music 