Tea Break

A series where musicians and others stop by for an imaginary Tea Break to talk about their music and projects.

Sam Braysher

As I made my way towards Café Le Rêve to meet with saxophonist Sam Braysher I noticed a small crowd gathered further up the street. They were listening to a skiffle group - two young guys on guitar and two young women on tea chest bass and washboard. They were playing that old Alexis Korner number I Ain't Gonna Worry No More. Not what I expected, the group that is, not the song.

Ferdinand, the owner of Café Le Rêve was amongst the audience. "Hi, Ian, they are good, aren't they. I have not heard a band like this before."

"Hi Ferdinand, skiffle was popular back in the 1950s when it didn't cost a lot to put the instruments together but yes, they are very good, they must be music students, I guess."

At which point Sam Braysher arrived and joined us. I introduced Sam to Ferdinand and then just as the band finished the number they must have spotted Sam's saxophone case. All four enthusiastically pleaded with Sam to sit in. He finally agreed "for just one number" and they decided on It's Tight Like That. It was exceptional - one of those musical events that only comes along unexpectedly every blue moon.

The rain started as they finished. We headed for the café, the band ran for cover and the small crowd quickly dispersed.

Natalie, the waitress, greeted Sam and we made our way to the booth reserved for us at the back of the café.

"How long have you known Sam, Ian?" Natalie asked.

"Quite a while," I replied, "but sadly I haven't seen him for some time. Sam originally came from Norfolk and went to London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After graduation, he played with other Guildhall musicians in a big band led by trumpeter Barney Lowe - it was an amazing band, packed with talent, and Sam played some wonderful alto sax solos. The band was featured at Ronnie Scott's Club, but eventually dispersed. Sam has since made a real impression on the jazz scene both here and in Europe and has some fine recordings to his name. I'm lucky he has been able to drop in - he's a pretty busy guy these days!. Sorry, Sam, am I embarrassing you?! That was quite an experience with the skiffle group! You fitted in so well with them and your solo was inspired!"

Anyway it's really nice to see you Sam, can Natalie get you a tea or coffee – what do you fancy?

Nice to see you too, Ian! Tea for me, please: milk, no sugar.

I'd like a coffee please Natalie. Americano with milk as usual please. I get the feeling you deserve a well earned beak, Sam, and a decent holiday?

Yes, I have been quite busy. I do some teaching in addition to quite a few gigs, so the school holidays are always a welcome opportunity to rest, but also to practise the saxophone a bit more than I can during term time. I’ll be going away a few times over the summer and visiting some family.

Do a recap for me on what you have done this year – it seems to have been busy; have you travelled a lot?

A highlight of this year has been getting the band from my album of Kurt Weill’s music back together, including Sara Dowling and Dario Di Lecce, who both now live in Valencia. We did a couple of gigs, including one at Ronnie Scott’s, in the UK in January, and then some festival performances in May. I also released an album as co-band leader with my friend Linus Eppinger, who is a great guitarist living in Amsterdam. So that band has toured a couple of times, with gigs in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany, which I’ve really enjoyed. Otherwise, it’s been business as usual: performances with my band, some sideman engagements, bread and butter gigs around town and further afield, and teaching.

I have to ask you about your recordings with international musicians. Your latest album "A Sinner Kissed An Angel" came out in April and once again you are recording with musicians from Europe. You have been developing these international connections for some time now – how does it happen?

Most of those connections have come about quite organically. That said, I attended a jazz summer school near Barcelona in 2015 and 2016 (Jorge Rossy’s Begues Jazz Camp), and that was quite a transformative experience for me, in terms of connecting with lots of European musicians for the first time. I met Jorge Rossy there and subsequently toured in a band with him and recorded my own trio album with him. I met Linus indirectly through connections I made at the Camp, and I met Michael Kanan, who I recorded my first album with in a duo setting, in New York, but then got to know him more at Begues, where he was a tutor. A Sinner Kissed an Angel features a great international rhythm section: Eric Ineke, a Dutch drummer who I met on a gig in the Hague, and Darryl Hall, an American bassist living in France, who Linus had toured with previously.

It is hard to believe that album with Michael Kanan was eight years ago! Michael came over for a few gigs at the time I remember - I have a video on my laptop of you both playing There's A Small Hotel - let's take a look:

How are things going with the new album? This one you have released as a digital recording and a CD – you asked in your mail out a while ago what readers thought about formats and some said they would still like CDs. How do you decide on whether to go for CDs, Downloads or Vinyl?

Things have gone well with the album, thanks. We’ve had some nice reviews and it was a real treat to play five gigs in a row - all in different cities - with the same band, which is a rarity in this day and age. As for the release format, that depends on the project, and it’s something I’m still figuring out. "A Sinner Kissed an Angel" was very much a collaborative project with Linus and it came out on Spanish label Fresh Sound Records, so they decided upon the release format.

The question that I put to readers of my mailing list, which you allude to, was actually in reference to a forthcoming duo album with Michael Kanan - a follow up to the one we released in 2017. I am planning for that to be my first ever vinyl release, but I wanted to gauge the thoughts of my newsletter readers: would they buy a vinyl album? Would they be disappointed if I released an album without a CD option? Or do they just stream all the music that they listen to? So, the plan is to try that duo record as a vinyl release and then I’ll potentially do vinyl runs for other projects in the future, depending on how it goes.

The final gig of the tour was at London’s Pizza Express in July – because the other guys were over in the UK for the gig I hope you had a good audience?

We had a lovely audience in the end, thanks. I really enjoyed that gig and it felt good from a musical perspective, too: one of my favourite performing experiences of the year so far, and a great way to finish off our album release tour in one of my favourite jazz clubs.

By the way, who chose the title for the album? On the surface it seems an odd choice until you read Sinatra’s lyrics.

I think it was Linus’ idea! There’s no deep meaning behind it, really: it’s one of the tracks on the album and I think we thought it would make a striking name for the record.

Do you have a favourite track from the album?

I really enjoy playing “Put On A Happy Face”, which was introduced by Dick Van Dyke in the film Bye Bye Birdie. I also like our rendition of Dusty Springfield’s “Spooky”, which is a bit different from the repertoire I normally play.

I have always loved Spooky as a song; you and Linus interpret it beautifully - I have given Natalie a copy of the CD - let's get her to put Spooky on - I think the expression is "get in the groove" for this one:

The previous album ‘That’s Him’, featured lesser known songs by Kurt Weill – what inspired that?

The idea of doing a themed album was an appealing one: I enjoy the process of digging deep into a composer’s repertoire and trying to find some hidden gems that perhaps haven’t been interpreted by jazz musicians before. One of the reasons I settled upon Weill as a subject is that his oeuvre is extremely varied: he wrote some really fun, swinging show tunes after settling in America, but his earlier work is very harmonically rich and sounds more “European”: I was keen to try and capture both of those flavours on the record.

I liked Sara Dowling’s vocals on that album. How did you come across Sara?

Sara is an amazing musician. I think we first met in around 2015 on some gigs with a swing band. We had some mutual friends on the London jazz scene and played together in various settings over the next few years. I liked the idea of having a vocalist on the Kurt Weill album, and of course she did an amazing job. As I mentioned, she now lives in Valencia, but it’s been brilliant to play with her and Dario Di Lecce, her husband and a great bassist, a few times this year.

I have actually got another video here of Sara singing The Right Guy for Me from the album that also has nice solos from you and pianist Matyas Gayer. It is a song I didn't know about before. Here is a reminder:

How about another tea, Sam – and can I get you one of the great selection of cakes here? What do you fancy?

Good idea! I’ll take another tea and a Belgian bun please!

Natalie is on the case. I guess most Europeans speak English but are you picking up other languages as you go, or are you linguistically versatile anyway?

I wish I had some linguistic skills! Unfortunately I never got much beyond GCSE French, so I’m ashamed to say that I rely on my European friends’ ability to speak English.

Here's Natalie with the coffee and Belgian buns - totally European! Natalie is actually from France, she came here two years ago and her English is excellent. Perhaps we can book you in for colloquial French lessons! How do you deal with playing live across Europe when talking to the audiences? Do you have things written out on the palm of your hand or do you practice the language before a gig?

Most of the gigs I’ve done abroad have been with a bandleader or co-leader who can speak the language of the country we’re playing in. For example, Linus speaks to the audiences when we play in Germany or the Netherlands. I did a gig in Sicily a few months ago though where I was very much the bandleader, so I just about managed to prepare a few phrases in Italian in advance, which I think the audience appreciated. They generously let me switch to English for the rest of the gig after that though. I hope one day I might get around to taking some lessons in another language!

So, the autumn and the months ahead – what have you got planned? Will you be travelling again?

I’m getting married, actually! So obviously I’m looking forward to that. And I have some gigs with my band in September and October. I’ll be releasing a new album next spring, so I’m in the process of organising a tour to mark that.

That is really exciting - I hope the wedding is a really happy day. Make sure you let me know about the new album and the tour dates in the spring. Time seems to pass so quickly. It is quite a while since we first met at Barney Lowe’s London City Big Band gigs, Sam. I miss those gigs and naturally, over time, people have all gone their different ways. Are you still in touch with other members of the band?

It has been a while, and yes: I miss those gigs too! I am still in touch with a few of the guys and see some of them around on the scene from time to time. We rehearsed so much while we were at Guildhall and I learnt a lot about big band and ensemble playing from that band.

What is the schedule for your gigs in the UK? I must plan to get to one of them soon.

I do have some gigs coming up in the next few months. Let me check the dates. They are all Sam Braysher Quartet gigs:

On the 4th September we are at at Burrough Jazz in Leicestershire,

The 12th September we are at Shrivenham Jazz Festival

And on the 27th September at Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival

Going on to next month

On the 9th October we are at Leeds University for an afternoon workshop and concert - we are featuring vocalist Annie Majin on this one.

And the next day, 10th October Annie Majin is with us again at Pinner Jazz

There are lots of things planned for next year, too! I'll let you know about them later.

I think we should hear another track from your album with Linus while we finish our tea and coffee - you mentioned Put On A Happy Face - that sounds just right!

Thanks for dropping in for a tea break, Sam. It has been really good to catch up.

Thanks for having me, Ian - likewise.

There is more information including updated gig information on Sam's website here.

More Tea Breaks