Sam Weiser Finishes FODFest Tour, Readies Debut Album for February Release

NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Shore Fire Media) - Sam Weiser had to take a few days off from his tenth-grade honors classes in October to play on the Friends of Daniel Pearl's FODFest tour. Weiser, a 15-year-old violinist, was last year's winner of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin, and the FODFest raises funds to support the Friends of Daniel Pearl's mission of communicating with the universal language of music. Now Sam is on to his next task (besides three hours of homework, two hours of violin practice and many minutes of fantasy football management a day): working with producer Sonia Rutstein (a.k.a. SONiA) to put the finishing touches on his debut album, 'Sam I Am,' which will be released February 16th by disappear records.'

'Sam I Am' showcases Sam's prodigious technique, youthful ebullience and mature poise on tunes as varied at Bill Monroe's bluegrass classic "Jerusalem Ridge," Antonio Carlos Jobim's bossa nova standard "Desafinado," the affecting folk of "By My Silence" and the jazz-rock of Carlos Santana's yearning "Europa." The album combines many musical traditions to make a stunning statement about the empowering universality of music. And all profits from the album will be donated to the Friends of Daniel Pearl and the Daniel Pearl Foundation.

See a fan-shot video of Sam playing Carlos Santana's "Europa" at a New York City FodFest show: https://bit.ly/SWeiser_Europa

Hear Sam play with Mark O''Connor's American String Celebration in this Time.com video: (and watch his interview at around 4:40): https://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,31031487001_1913359,00.htm

'Sam I Am' Track Listing
Gypsy Fantastic (Mark O'Connor)
By My Silence (Written by Ellen Bukstel and Nick Annis, arrangement by SONiA)
Europa (Carlos Santana and Tom Coster)
Jerusalem Ridge (Bill Monroe)
Dat Dere (Bobby Timmons)
Rise (Eddie Vedder)
Jass's Song (Lulo Reinhardt)
Who's So Scared (Sonia Rutstein and Countee Cullen)
Dance All Night (Sonia Rutstein)
Azucar (Eddie Palmieri)
Desafinado (Antonio Carlos Jobim and Newton Mendonca)
Shorashim (Sonia Rutstein)
Lullaby of Birdland (George Shearing and George David Weiss)
Aura L'Aura (Yale Strom)