Sam Norris

Hailing from Cambridge, award-winning alto saxophonist and composer Sam Norris's love of jazz was ignited when he heard Coltrane's A Love Supreme aged 12.

Since then he has been fascinated with luminaries of improvised music such as Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Lee Konitz, combined with an equal interest in contemporary classical and hip-hop music. This melting pot of influences has led him to develop a distinctive musical language, at once forward-thinking and grounded in tradition. Sam moved to London in 2018 to study with a scholarship on the prestigious jazz course at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of Kit Downes, Stan Sulzmann and Iain Ballamy. 

Sam leads his own highly esteemed quartet- a regular fixture on the London jazz scene- and is set to release his debut album, Small Things Evolved Slowly, on the Resonant Postcards Collective label on the 30th August 2024. 

In addition, he works across the UK and EU with musicians including Ronan Guilfoyle, Alex Ridout and PHEMO Quartet. He has performed at venues such as King’s Place, the Vortex Jazz Club and the Workman’s Club. Sam won the Craig Ball prize for jazz saxophone in 2021 and was a finalist in the Musicians' Company Young Jazz Musician competition the following year.

Awards

Winner, Craig Ball prize for jazz saxophone, 2021

Finalist, Worshipful Company of Musicians Young Jazz Musician of the Year, 2022

Semi-finalist, BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year, 2016

Tags