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June 27, 2024 - Qobuz, the music lovers’ high-quality music streaming and download platform, is partnering with Los Angeles’s Sam First Jazz Club and its new home for high-fidelity recordings of select live performances, Sam First Records, for a series of exclusive live digital albums. The next two releases in the series will be a digital release of GRAMMY-nominated keyboardist and singer-songwriter Rachel Eckroth’s live album Humanoid on June 28th, and Los Angeles-based alto saxophonist Devin Daniels’ new live album LesGo! on August 9th.
Humanoid, which was recorded live at Sam First, features guitarist Andrew Renfroe, bassist Billy Mohler, and drummer Tina Raymond. LesGo! features trumpeter Julien Knowles, pianist Chris Fishman, bassist Jermaine Paul, drummer Benjamin Ring, and an impressive list of collective performance credits including Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Billy Childs, and Pat Metheny. Both albums were produced by Sam First owner Paul Solomon and Staff Producer David Robaire.
To celebrate each release in the series, Qobuz and Sam First will also be partnering for special release shows at Sam First Jazz Club, which will offer free virtual admission exclusively for Qobuz users.
Eckroth’s digital release show for Humanoid will be June 29th - tickets HERE (Rachel Eckroth Trio with Billy Mohler & Jonathan Pinson), and Devin Daniels will play two shows for LesGo! - on August 9th and 10th (Devin Daniels Quintet with Julien Knowles, Chris Fishman, Jermaine Paul & Benjamin Ring).
The Qobuz / Sam First partnership and series “soft launched” in April with a digital live album release from Jazz improv masters Clam City (pianist/keyboardist Jeff Babko, bassist Tim Lefebvre, and drummer Mark Guiliana).
Keeping with its “Boutique in a Superstore World” approach and focus on independent music, the Sam First Records exclusive live series is the latest of Qobuz’ exclusive releases for hard-core music lovers. Showcasing adventurous music that is often overlooked by the mainstream, Qobuz’ other partnerships include International Anthem’s Qobuz series (featuring live-to-record performances by Makaya McCraven, Alabaster DePlume with Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer, and Carlos Niño with DJ-producer Photay); Qobuz’ live-to-EP SXSW showcases (featuring Yazmin Lacey, Shana Cleveland, Miss Grit, Cosmo Pyke, Caramelo Haze, and Barrie); and other exclusive releases from the likes of Dinosaur Jr., Circuit des Yeux, Christian McBride, Frank Zappa, Tower of Power, and many more.
“We are excited to partner with Qobuz in this innovative way,” says owner Paul Solomon and producer David Robaire. “The musicians at Sam First represent the finest group of creative players in the Jazz world. Qobuz curates jazz and creative music unlike any other platform. Qobuz’ focus on quality, on artistry, and its bespoke approach to bringing music and an audience together is totally on point with Sam First Records’ approach. We are Qobuz users ourselves and we are excited and tremendously enthusiastic about this partnership, and look forward to ongoing collaborations.”
Qobuz Managing Director Dan Mackta added “We recognized Sam First as like-minded music lovers so this partnership made perfect sense. Qobuz is happy to be able to give these releases the attention they deserve.”
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