Samson Trinh

Richmond Magazine awarded Samson Trinh & The Upper East Side Big Band Best Ensemble for the Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts! The issue hits the stands this October. Excellent write up and pics.

Nice write up about Upper East Side Big Band’s recent Dogwood Dell performance by Karen from her blog, “I Could Go On and On”. Photo by Melisa Brugh:

Wouldn’t It Be Nice? (Saturday, June 11, 2011)

“Next time, bring a glass.”

That’s what the woman sitting near me at Dogwood Dell said to me at the end of the evening. Earlier, when she’d tried to surreptitiously open a bottle of wine, I’d looked over and grinned at her.

All good Richmonders know alcohol is forbidden at the Dell. That said, I’ve never once been to a a performance there and not seen people drinking. Most people.

So at the end of the evening, she’d made sure to…

That’s right!!! Friday, June 10th at 8PM… FREE! Dogwood Dell has invited Samson Trinh & The Upper East Side Big Band to open up the Summer Concert Series again! Last year’s turn out was filled way past the 2,400 seat capacity. Joining them for the first set will be the six-piece Jazz/Americana group, the Mills Family Band.

The 20-piece big band will feature guest vocalists Adrian Duke, Allyson Mills-Steele, Curtis Mills, Desiree Roots Centeo, John Winn (from the Neighborliness Jazz Quartet), Terri Simpson (from the Butterbean Quartet), and Laura Ann Singh (from Quatro na Bossa). This is the DREAM TEAM of Richmond singers!!!

Why SO many vocalists? Because Samson’s going to present a smorgasbord of brand-spanking new musical…

That’s right! On Friday, March 18, 2011, The Upper East Side Big Band will once again present our rendition of Abbey Road in its entirety! The concert will be held at The Steward School’s beautiful 500 seat Lora M. Robins Theatre in the Paul R. Cramer Center for the Arts! Seating is limited.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS NOW!

Samson Trinh & The Upper East Side Big Band’s “The Abbey Road Project” has been named as one of the Best Richmond Albums of 2010 by Richmond Playlist!

“Richmond had so many amazing albums come out this year, there was no way I could lump them in with national releases and narrow them down to 10. So I made a completely separate list. And it was still hard to do. Here are the best albums Richmond musicians had to offer for 2010.” – From the Article

Check out the full article HERE!!!

The Mills Family Band will be performing live Christmas music on Richmond’s Radio station, Lite 98! That’s 98.1FM for those who haven’t been around a radio box in a while. =)

The date is Wednesday, December 15th. We’ll be on air from 7-8:30AM. This will be our third year with Bill Bevins and Shelly Perkins. We can’t thank them enough for supporting us local artists.

We also have a gig this Friday, December 10th at Poe’s Pub! Yeah, I know it’s been a while since our last gig. We’ll be playing a benefit concert called HAMAGANZA. Proceeds benefit The Food Bank / $10.00 donation or bring a Canned Ham! Come on out!

- Samson

Back to work now. I’m actually very excited to be back. Vacation was fun but it burned me out. It’s all cool. Future projects coming real soon. Mills Family Band is going to hit the studio for our second album. That means time to write new music. Check back for posts!

- Samson

I knew how hard at work Samson had been on the Beatles Abbey Road project and as a fan, friend and fellow musician I was as excited as anyone else to see the debut on Friday night at Dogwood Dell.

To be honest, from the moment he took the stage, I felt like I was watching history in the making. Whatever shivers people felt when they first saw the Beatles shake their hair on stage – well, I felt something similar as I listened to Samson and his band…

Inside Track: Richmond Music News

Beatlemania is alive and well in Richmond. In addition to the new all-girl Beatles tribute band, the Girtles, the Fab Four are getting the big-band treatment. The 19-piece Upper East Side Big Band, boasting a who’s who of local players from such bands as Bio Ritmo, the No BS Brass Band, Glows in the Dark and Bungalo 6, just finished up “The Abbey Road Project.â€� Arrangers Samson Trinh and Adrian Duke put their stamp on the Beatles’ 11th, and last recorded, album with the help of vocalist siblings Allyson Mills-Steele and Curtis Mills, the crux of the Mills Family Band…

July 2007 Cadence Magazine

The CD by Samson Trinh is so diverse it almost feels like a demo reel with him showing all the different styles of music he can write. According to his liner notes, when he would compose music he never heard it being played to his satisfaction so he got together seemingly half the musicians in Richmond, Virginia, and recorded his work the way he wanted to hear it. This is mostly big band music but a lot of other ground is covered. “To You, Near You, With You” is an upbeat Jazz song that could have come out of some sophisticated film comedy. “Thank Goodness” is Western swing complete with a steel guitar. “I Tried to Talk To Her, But She Thought I Was Too Weird” is a slippery electric funk with electric pianos fuzzing out like Herbie Hancock in his…