“It’s hard not to hear just how easily melodies are wrung from the hands of an old soul like Sam Wilson. Resembling eyespots on moth wings, Sam’s music wards off what preys upon our tenderness. More than easy listening, her compositions are outright easy going. Passing over edgier idioms preoccupying much of non-commercial jazz these days, the Canadian resident returns the genre to its simpler roots, connecting post-bop energy with contemporary production techniques.” - Todd B. Gruel

— Pop Matters on the album Groundless Apprehensions

Press Photos

Photography by Studio204

Bio

Sam Wilson is a canadian guitarist whose practice as a performer-composer focuses on creating jazz-adjacent music for improvisers. Her current artistic muse is wild spaces and site specific responses, you can hear this on her recent release ‘Wintertides’; a trio project featuring Vancouver based musicians Jen Yakamovich and Geordie Hart. It is inspired by contrasting landscapes and the collaboration of bi-coastal communities. Wilson's albums ‘Into a Heart Pt. II’,  ‘New Doors’ (Jackson\Wilson Duo), and ‘Wintertides’ have won Music Nova Scotia’s ‘Jazz Recording of the year’ in 2022, 2023 ad 2025. All four of her albums have been nominated for the East Coast Music Awards. In 2021 Sam won the Paul Cram Creation award and composed ‘Recover-we’, her first piece for orchestra which was performed by Symphony Nova Scotia at the 2023 Open Waters Festival. Sam frequently performs around the east coast and across Canada, open to collaboration from working in the improvised music community to supporting popular artists such as Laura Roy. 

Sample Tracks

SAM WILSON TRIO