Sam Gendel

Born in Visalia, California, Sam Gendel has, since the late 2000s, developed work that sits between contemporary jazz, jazz fusion and experimental forms, featuring an alto saxophone approach often accompanied by sound processing, open structures and a pronounced taste for collage. His trajectory first emerges through a series of personal projects such as 4444 (2017), Pass If Music (2018) and Satin Doll (2020), followed by Fresh Bread (2021), an expansive collection of 52 pieces recorded between 2012 and 2020, and Cookup (2023), assembled from reinterpretations of R&B songs. In parallel, Gendel has multiplied collaborations, notably in duo with bassist Sam Wilkes on Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar (2018) and Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar More Songs (2021), as well as with Pino Palladino and Blake Mills on Notes With Attachments (2021). His path also intersects American indie pop, with co-writing credits on "Flower Moon" and "Spring Snow" from Vampire Weekend’s Father of the Bride (2019). Sam Gendel thus moves between improvised performance, studio projects and hybrid formats, in an aesthetic where jazz engages with repetition, reprise and melodic deformation.