Sam Blakeslee is an award-winning Connecticut/New York City-based trombonist and composer. Most recently, he was named a 2025 Rising Star Trombonist of The Year in Downbeat Magazine Critics’ Poll. He has performed at iconic jazz clubs such as Birdland, Dizzy’s Club, The Jazz Gallery, Smalls, Zinc Bar, 55 Bar, and the Blue Note, The Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center, among others. Sam leads an 18-piece jazz orchestra, the Sam Blakeslee Large Group, which will release a debut album New Blood on September 25, 2026 on Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records.