Sam Gendel

Sam Gendel, born around 1987 in Visalia, California, is an American jazz musician and music producer. He began playing saxophone at age 10, inspired by John Coltrane, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Wayne Shorter. In his early career, Gendel formed the trio Inga with Adam Rattner on guitar and Kevin Yokota on drums, releasing albums like en (2015) and the EP Volunteered Slavery (2016). His solo career began in 2017 with the album 4444, followed by collaborations such as Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar (2018) with Sam Wilkes, Rio Nilo 66 (2019) with Ethan Braun, and Satin Doll (2020), which featured electronic interpretations of jazz standards. Gendel's work often incorporates elements of electronic music and avant-garde jazz, as seen in albums like DRM (2020) and Fresh Bread (2021). He has collaborated with numerous artists, including Blake Mills, Perfume Genius, and Vampire Weekend.