Sam Gendel is an American saxophonist and music producer.
Gendel was born in Visalia, California.
With bassist Sam Wilkes, Gendel released the live jazz album Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar in 2018. Gendel co-wrote the tracks "Flower Moon" and "Spring Snow" on Vampire Weekend's 2019 album, Father of the Bride. He also recorded a 20 minute, 21 second-long version of Vampire Weekend's "2021" for the EP 40:42.
In March 2020, Gendel released his first album with Nonesuch Records, Satin Doll, which was described as "a futuristic homage to historical jazz." In an interview with The Fader<nowiki/>'s David Renshaw, Gendel claimed that "putting out a 'normal' album just doesn't work for [him]." In 2021, he released the three-hour-long album Fresh Bread, consisting of 52 tracks that were recorded between 2012 and 2020. His 2023 album Cookup reinterprets R&B classics and received a 7.0 from Pitchfork.
It has been heavily speculated that Gendel is a member of avant-garde musical duo Clown Core.