Sam Bardfeld is a violinist, composer and arranger. He is a member of The Jazz Passengers and Bruce Springsteen’s Sessions Band with whom he recorded We Shall Overcome (Sony, 2006) and Live in Dublin (Sony, 2007). He has worked with a long list of jazz, pop, folk and experimental acts including Elvis Costello, John Zorn, Calexico, Rufus Wainwright, Johnny Pacheco, Debbie Harry, Sting, Ray Anderson, Nellie McKay, Lou Reed, John Cale, Mark Ribot, Dave Brubeck, Gilberto Santo Rosa, The String Trio of New York, Ronnie Spector, Nancy Sinatra and The Soldier String Quartet among others.
Bardfeld’s own recordings Taxidermy (CIMP, 1999) and Periodic Trespasses (FreshSounds, 2006) have both earned acclaim, including a “4-Star” rating in Downbeat magazine, raves in Jazz Times, Jazziz magazine and “4-Stars” in All Music Guide (both recordings). He has performed with his own group at jazz festivals and clubs throughout Europe including Banlieues Bleues (Paris), Sud-Tirol (Italy) and Porgy and Bess (Vienna).
Sam’s arranging credits include work for Calexico, Nancy Sinatra, film music for Hedwig and the Angry Inch composer Stephen Trask, and work on the Broadway-bound production of Lone Star Love with The Red Clay Ramblers. He has also contracted string sections for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Madison Square Garden and for Gilberto Santa Rosa at Carnegie Hall.
In the 1990’s, Sam’s immersion in NYC’s fertile Salsa and Latin Jazz scene led to writing a book, Latin Violin (Hal Leonard, 2002), considered to be the authoritative work on the Afro-Cuban violin tradition. He is also an instructor of jazz violin at the New School jazz program in NYC.
Sam studied violin technique with Gerald Beal and Joey Corpus and improvisation with Bill Barron, George Garzone and Richie Beirach. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1990 where he studied music, anthropology and history. In 1991 he received a year-long Ford Foundation grant to study ethnomusicology at Wesleyan.
