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Sam Dunn is a jazz guitarist based on the Kent coast, just outside London, UK.

His playing style is a blend of tradition and innovation, drawing on the vocabulary of jazz greats while embracing contemporary improvisation and harmony. Known for his lyrical and swinging guitar playing, Sam performs regularly at jazz venues across the UK and internationally.

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Sam is a much in demand jazz guitarist who does most of his performing around London and the South East of England. He leads a quartet which has recently toured the music of Grant Green, and features saxophonist Dave O'Higgins, organist Liam Dunachie and drummer Dave Ohm. They recently played at Cadogan Hall, as well as Twickenham Jazz club, Eltham Jazz Club, the B3 Lounge and others. Sam also performs with vocalist Nina Clark, with whom he recently toured the UK paying tribute to the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass. He can also be heard on Nina Clark's recent album 'Alpha' which is an exciting and dynamic set of original songs. Sam is the guitarist for 'The Hot Club of Jupiter,' a Django Reinhardt inspired quintet that perform original music around the UK. Their new album 'Copacallisto' is due to be released very soon.

He is also a member of accordionist Karen Street's 'L'Espirit du Jazz' quartet alongside bassist and vocalist Charlie Pyne, and drummer Katie Patterson, who recently performed at LSO St Luke's for the London Gypsy Jazz Festival. For many years Sam has been US pianist and vocalist Judy Carmichael's UK accompanist of choice. Together they have toured Australia, and played gigs in Milan, Cologne and several sell out shows at London venues including Ronnie Scott's, Crazy Coq's and the Concord Club in Eastleigh.  Sam plays in saxophonist Nadim Teimoori's 'Hidden Words' quintet, and has also recently recoded an album for saxophonist Sammy Mayne, which will be out on MR PC records soon. Other musicians Sam has worked with in recent years include Georgia Mancio, Jamie Taylor, Simon Spillett, Derek Nash, Rod Youngs, Ed Bentley, Richard Illes, and many, many others. 

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Sam was commissioned by the Wandsworth Jazz Orchestra to write and perform a set of big band music for them for the 2022 London jazz Festival. He's also performed at the Legnano Jazz festival with Judy Carmichael, the London Gypsy Jazz Festival with Karen Street's Quartet, and the Hot Club of Jupiter, the Cork Jazz Festival with Jon Shenoy's 'Draw by Four' quartet, with whom he also recorded two albums and toured the UK several times.  

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Sam shares a wealth of instructional material on his YouTube and Instagram pages—don’t forget to subscribe! He also welcomes inquiries from prospective Zoom Online Students. Drop him a message via the contact page to find out more. 

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Sam is the jazz guitar tutor at the Purcell School - a specialist secondary school for talented young musicians. He was also a guest tutor at the 2023 North Wales Jazz Guitar Festival. 

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Sam's main setup is an Elferink Tonemaster running into a Fender Deluxe Reverb. He also uses a Sontagg Allegria, a Benedetto Bravo, a Gibson ES175 from 1966 and a Selmer style guitar by Rob Aylward.. Sam strings his guitars with Thomastik Infeld strings and plays with Hawk picks.

For more information, visit Sam Dunn Interview.

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