Saxofonist

You probably love Blake Mills and Pino Palladino—even if you don’t know it. As a guitarist and producer, Mills has worked with an incredible range of artists, including Fiona Apple, Bob Dylan, Feist, Weyes Blood, Sky Ferreira, Perfume Genius, John Legend, and Alabama Shakes, whose Sound & Color earned him a Producer of the Year Grammy nomination. Pino Palladino, meanwhile, has played bass for D’Angelo, Nine Inch Nails, John Mayer, Adele, Erykah Badu, Harry Styles, and Beyoncé. On their 2021 album Notes with Attachments, these two musicians who have spent their careers helping other artists realize their vision spun up something magical of their own. It’s a gauzy and welcoming collection of instrumentals rooted in jazz, soul, and R&B, full of curious experiments and warm with good cheer. Mojo called it “limber, spacey music, pitched somewhere between jazz, funk, and ambience,” while Pitchfork said, “It’s the sound of consummate collaborators imagining a world where there’s no such thing as a lead performer.”

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Pino Palladino & Blake Mills featuring Sam Gendel & Chris Dave

The John Anson Ford Theatre

A rare and precious duo, creators of dreamy and inventive forms, saxophonist Sam Gendel and bassist Sam Wilkes present for the first time in Lyon their unclassifiable classics at the crossroads of jazz, ambient, experimental and pop.

Sam Wilkes & Sam Gendel

Trinity Chapel, Lyon

Saxophonist Sam Gendel and bassist Sam Wilkes are two of the defining figures of the contemporary Los Angeles jazz scene, known widely as members of drummer Louis Cole’s iconoclastic band Knower and for their groundbreaking duo project blending virtuosic instrumental playing with heavy electronic processing. A partnership at its most unpredictable in a live setting, they perform pieces from their newest album UNRELATED, and more.

Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes

SFJAZZ Center

“A griot for a new generation of West Africans” (BBC Radio), London-born kora virtuoso Sona Jobarteh is a pioneer of the 21-string African lute. Her return marks her debut on the Miner stage with two nights of spellbinding musicianship.

Saxofonist

Sam Gendel

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 18, 2026

Sam Wilkes & Sam Gendel · Opéra National De Lyon

Apr 9, 2027

Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes · San Francisco Jazz

10 - 11 Apr, 2027

Sona Jobarteh · San Francisco Jazz

Past events

Sep 26, 2025

Pino Palladino & Blake Mills featuring Sam Gendel & Chris Dave · The Ford

About

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