Sam Butler

Sam Butler is a professional jazz trumpet player, composer, arranger and educator based in Indianapolis, IN. He has performed all around the United States with Sammy Miller and the Congregation, April Varner, the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, Sean Dobbins, D’yshe Mansfeld and his own Visions Jazz Ensemble, which he co-leads with saxophonist Garett Fasig. As the winner of the 2023 International Trumpet Guild Jazz Solo Competition and with three albums released as a bandleader, including a 3-star DownBeat review, Sam has “an abundance of jazz success coming his way.” (Debbie Burke) Along with performing, Sam regularly arranges and orchestrates for major artists such as Marquis Hill, Makaya McCraven, and Darin Atwater, and is on staff as an arranger and educator with JazzReach and Playbook Music.

Sam began work as a jazz education curriculum developer, transcriber, arranger, and composer with Playbook Music in July of 2023. He was also an Associate Instructor in the Jazz Department of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University while completing his master’s degree in Jazz Studies. Following the release of his second album “Across The Field” from his and Garrett Fasig’s Visions Jazz Ensemble, Sam has received acclaim as not only a trumpet player, but as an arranger and composer, including a 3-star DownBeat Magazine review in February of 2025. With two albums now released as a bandleader, Sam maintains an active performing, teaching, and composing schedule around Indianapolis and the Midwest.

Sam quickly flourished as a performer, composer, and arranger after beginning his academic career at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in 2018. He was named a semi-finalist in the Jazz Division of the 2019 and 2020 National Trumpet Competition, and performed with the Plummer Jazz Sextet, a select group of musicians that writes original music, plays shows around the Midwest, and records. Sam has also recorded and performed dozens of his own large ensemble compositions and arrangements with ensembles at IU, and during his undergraduate and graduate tenure, recorded an album of all original compositions with his “Folklore” Sextet, which was released in May 2023. Sam completed his studies in 2024, after working as an Associate Instructor in the jazz department, leaving with both an undergraduate and master’s degree in Jazz Studies.