Samuel Cerra – A Brilliant Vibraphone Virtuoso

Once upon a time, I had a wonderful adventure. When I was a teenager, I got into a percussion class at music school. I played the snare drum and learnt to play the xylophone, but unfortunately, I became seriously ill and had to drop out of music school just before I finished my first year and… it was a few days before I started my first vibraphone lesson. Maybe that is why this instrument is so close to my heart. Every time I hear that crystal-clear sound, I am reminded of those beautiful times. Especially when the vibraphone is played by Samuel Cerra, who is simply an outstanding, complete artist. Fortunately, on the album ‘Midnight at the Speakeasy’, I get to savour these spellbinding sounds in as many as three tracks.

Do you know when the magic begins? When, while listening to the soft, subtle melodies coming from the piano, combined with Valerie’s warm vintage vocals, you suddenly reach the second minute or so of ‘Starlite Ballroom’. And there, for dessert, you get a brilliant, truly brilliant vibraphone solo with a little added percussion beat that makes me directly float a few metres above the clouds. But I’ll come back down to earth for a moment more to listen to ‘Sunset Boulevard’. Thanks to this song, the sun is starting to appear in this sky of mine. The sound of the trumpet warms me up, my heart starts to beat to the rhythm of the bass, Valerie’s vocals evoke hot summer evenings, and the sounds of Samuel Cerra’s vibraphone turn this euphoric state up even more!