American clarinettist Sam Sadigursky has released 11 acclaimed albums as a leader (New Amsterdam Records, Brooklyn Jazz Underground, and Adhyâropa Records), and appears on over 60 albums as a side musician, including on numerous Grammy nominees and winners, most recently on David Byrne’s Here Lies Love (2023). He’s a member of the Philip Glass Ensemble, and has also toured and recorded with Brad Mehldau, David Byrne, Bruce Hornsby and yMusic, Fred Hersch, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Gabriel Kahane, Tom Jones, Yuka Honda, Edmar Castaneda, the Mingus Orchestra, and U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. From 2017-2019 he was the onstage clarinetist for the Grammy, Tony, and Emmy Award-winning show The Band’s Visit and has also performed for many other Broadway productions. He has published six volumes of original etudes and duets for clarinet, and is also currently collaborating on an original musical about the life of Joseph Pulitzer. As a composer, he is the recipient of grants from Chamber Music America, ASCAP, and the Jerome Foundation. He lives in New York with his wife and their children are ten and thirteen.
UK Jazz News: What is the best advice you received about balancing/juggling parenthood and career?
Sam Sadigursky: I can’t really remember a single piece of advice I got, but in a lot of ways being an improviser and a freelance musician is great preparation for parenting. Both involve constantly throwing oneself into situations you’re not prepared for, embracing the unexpected, thinking on your feet over shifting grounds, and the importance of family and community.
I do remember some friends telling me how exponential it is to have multiple kids, and they were very right about that!
UKJN: What information or advice do you wish you’d received but didn’t (and had to learn through trial and error or on the go)?
SS: I was doing a lot of theater work when my kids were really little, and also running all over town building my career playing creative music as well. We live in the suburbs just north of the city so once I went into the city for something it wasn’t easy to pop into the house in between things. Professionally it was a very fun time, but I was gone most nights of the week and long days on the weekends too. I had worked really hard to get there and my ambition made it feel really hard to say no to anything. We had au pairs living with us for four years during that time, which was the only childcare solution that made it all work, but it wasn’t until the pandemic years that I realized how much I had missed and what a huge burden it put on everybody else, mostly my wife. I’ve had a very different mindset and awareness in the years since, and I know my kids much better than I did before. It’s cliche, but you don’t get those years with your them back.
This is more of a general parenting thing, but I expected my kids to be amalgamations of the best parts of me and my wife. I do see certain things in them that you might call inherited, but they really are their own creatures who surprise and challenge us everyday and show us as parents both or best and worst sides. There’s an amazing and sobering poem I found recently called On Children by Kahlil Ghibran that I think about a lot. It says: Your children are not your children/They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself/They come through you but not from you/And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
UKJN: Your top tip(s) for other parents in jazz:
SS: Brace yourself! It’s the journey of a lifetime. I remember when my kids were really young I’d look at parents whose kids were a little older and think that the tough work was behind them. The tough work doesn’t end… Yes, diapers are behind us and my kids can tend to themselves in many ways, but now the rigors of school, activities, the orthodontist, camp forms, pick ups from late night parties, soccer enrollment, navigating adolescence and saving for college which somehow feels right around the corner can be just as intense and demanding.
UKJN: Travel/gigging/tour-with-child advice. This can be gear or gadget-related, or pertain to approach/what to do/what not to do:
SS: I never toured with my kids in tote, and wasn’t actually touring that much when they were little. I do hope to take them on some tours now that they’re bigger so that they can see what I do and see some interesting parts of the world.
Since 2020 I am touring much more than ever, mostly with the Philip Glass Ensemble. With a spouse who works full time it’s a huge challenge, especially since some of the tours can be 3+ weeks on a different continent, which makes staying in touch challenging. Whenever a trip is more than a week or so we try to find a relative or friend who can come live with us to help out with both the kids, the house and our two dogs. There’s also a lot of favors from families near us that we call in too, and we’re really lucky to have people around us who are eager to help. Not that these things are transactional, but my schedule when I’m not touring allows me to really help them out whenever I can, so I’m very mindful of paying it forward.
UKJN: What is one way that figures or structures in the jazz industry could better support parents who are working jazz musicians?
SS: The jazz industry is so fragmented that I’m not sure that I would ever say there can be universal supports in place.
One of the day-to-day challenges I’ve often confronted is that a lot of musicians don’t have families, probably much more than in other professions. There can be a disconnect with the realities for those of us with families that I’ve often had to confront.
Also, parenting structures are so unique for everybody. A lot of musicians are with other musicians or freelance/creative types and have a lot more freedom in their schedules to toss responsibilities back and forth. My wife has a grown-up job with fairly predictable hours. A rehearsal scheduled on a weekend or in the evening or a 3pm soundcheck for an 8pm gig can throw a wrench into things for us… On the other hand, I’d be remiss not to say how incredibly grateful for the stability her work gives us. My income can fluctuate because of it, which has really allowed me to stay in the game much more on my own terms and also not have a lot of the financial stress that many of my peers have.
UKJN: What has surprised you about becoming a parent and remaining engaged with your professional activities and ambitions?
SS: Even though huge chunks of my day are spent tending to my family, I still manage to make things with the time that I have. I’ve become so much more aware of the time that I do get every day and better at taking advantage of it and prioritizing the things I have to do. I have a postcard in my work studio that says “I make stuff because I get sad if I don’t.” It’s that simple for me. My mental well-being depends on it, and even when I don’t get the time to cook my own things, I make sure to at least expose myself to beautiful and artful things so that I’m inspired once I do get that creative time to myself. I love movies, good TV shows, books, theater, good food… Somehow my creative output has increased since having kids, which is also a product of me being much more comfortable with myself and feeling that I have something to say.
UKJN: What boundaries have you set for yourself as a parent in jazz (could be related to travel/touring, riders, personal parameters, child care decisions, etc.)?
SS: For a lot of years I said yes to absolutely everything without thinking things through, which you have to do for a while to make connections, solidify your craft and build a career as a side musician. I’m getting better at seeing the whole equation or asking for all the details when I get asked for things, and learning to say no when I know that it’s not a good equation for me.
Obviously, concerts and shows happen on evenings and weekends and I can’t change that, but I’m really trying to avoid scheduling rehearsals or calls outside of traditional work hours. My kids are in school during the day and that’s my time for creating and rehearsing and doing anything else that can be done flexibly.
Last, a constant challenge for anybody with a complicated career that they’re passionate about is turning off their creative/work brain. That’s a superpower I’m still trying to figure out!
Combining Jewish spiritual and Klezmer music with post-minimalism classical, jazz, and tinges of American folk, clarinetist Sam and accordionist/multi-instrumentalist Nathan Koci release the next two volumes of The Solomon Diaries (Adhyaropa Records) on 11 April 2025. These two albums are part of a quintet of evocative albums reflecting on the Borscht Belt region—the primary Jewish resort community that helped shape 20th-century American culture—and also exploring contemporary immigrant and Jewish experiences. Both a compelling musical remembrance of a bygone era and a look to the future, The Solomon Diaries: Vol. IV & V combines the Sadigursky-Koci Duo with notable multi-genre guest artists: pianist Timo Andres, mandolinist Joe Brent, kaval/alto saxophonist Matt Darriau, pianist Danny Fox, and violinist Meg Okura. The album release concert is at Barbés in Brooklyn, New York, on April 12, 2025
