Sam Rocha
A native son of Fresno in California’s central valley, Sam Rocha has been playing string bass since he was introduced to it at age 16. By his senior year of high school, he had received awards for outstanding musicianship from the Reno Jazz Festival and the Fresno City College Jazz Fest and was also offered scholarships by the CalArts and Berklee schools of music. At this time he was leading a youth jazz band known as “The Raisin Babies Jazz Band”, a group of West Coast youngsters pursuing the tradition of New Orleans jazz. Sam has since performed at major jazz festivals all across the United States and Canada. In addition to studying jazz on the acoustic bass, Sam has also extensively studied jazz tuba and sousaphone. He currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area where he is a free lance musician. He also travels with the highly esteemed Blue Street Jazz Band, playing jazz festivals and offering clinics for aspiring young jazz musicians.
