Gazeta
Tom Sekowski
May 15th 2008
http://www.gaz-eta.vivo.pl

New York based Swiss trombonist Samuel Blaser continues his quest in redefining his compositional skills on his quite delectable album "7th Heaven". Joining his quartet is guitarist Scott Dubois, bassist Thomas Morgan and percussionist Gerald Cleaver. Though he has appeared on more than twenty records by artists as various as EBU Jazz Orchestra, Lee Scratch Perry and Vienna Art Orchestra, his compositional side was under-developed on record. As such, this record lets his compositions breathe free. An almost half-an-hour long "Metamorphose Suite" allows all players to dabble in little side episodes of their own. All the while, the leader glues the whole thing together. His playing is rather pleasant, and for the most part, he doesn't like to step on his sidemen's toes. What's best about "7th Heaven" is the high level of communication between the players. I hope this record marks only the beginning of great things to come for Blaser's quartet. Tom Sekowski