ABOUT
"Newbould's alto playing bursts from the ensemble shining like a beacon in the darkness" - Bebop Spoken Here (UK)
Born and raised in the Northern English countryside, Sam Newbould is a saxophonist, composer and bandleader based in Amsterdam. An “archetypal jazz outsider” (Jazzwise) he is best known for his award winning group the 'Sam Newbould Quintet'.
With his quintet, Sam won the prestigious Keep an Eye Records Award in 2019. The band toured major venues including the BIMHUIS, LantarenVenster and the Vortex (UK). They have also been invited to perform at festivals including Jazzfest Amsterdam, Amersfoort World Jazz Festival, Red Light Jazz Festival and A Love Supreme (UK).
His quintet's debut album Blencathra (2019) was hailed by Windout magazine as “A musical mosaic of futurist ideas and indie-jazz harmonies”.
His second album, Bogus Notus (ZenneZ Records), plunges the traditional jazz quintet lineup into a storytelling world inspired by Sam's upbringing in the north of England. Bogus Notus has been described as "compulsive listening" (Bebop Spoken Here, UK) with "no shortage of world class talent" (UK Vibe).
Besides his own group, Sam is also an in-demand sideman with bands including the BvR Flamenco Big Band and the Peter Beets New Jazz Orchestra. He has shared the stage with major international artists including Jasper Blom, Ben van Gelder and Reinier Baas. Sam is the guest saxophone teacher at the Conservatory of Maastricht.
Sam was born in the North of England in 1990. He took an early interest in the drums and percussion, joining his local concert band at the age of 8, before transitioning to saxophone when he reached High School.
With the aid of a Help Musicians scholarship, Sam moved to the Netherlands to pursue his studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he graduated in 2019. Prior to that, he also spent a year in Berlin in 2014 studying at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler". Outside of music, Sam holds a masters degree in Philosophy from Durham University (UK).