Sam Griffith recently completed his D.M.A. in jazz studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he directed large and small jazz ensembles and taught history of jazz and applied jazz trombone.

Prior to studying and teaching in Boulder, he completed his Master’s in music performance at California State University, Sacramento and B.F.A. from the New School in New York City. He has toured internationally, performing at the Jazz à Vienne and Montreux Jazz festivals, in addition to performing across the United States.

He is  co-author and researcher for the Historical Dictionary of Jazz (Scarecrow Press, 2012) and is currently working on a new text focused on the music of Kansas City in the 1930s.