Sadamu Samuel Hirsh was born in Kyoto, Japan. He and his family moved to Portland, Oregon, USA, when he was four years old. Sam started playing piano shortly after, and eventually acquired classical training. He began playing jazz his freshman year of high school influenced by his father, a jazz saxophonist. One year later he was working professionally, leading his own piano trio and working with various local artists including his father’s quintet. 

In 2009, Hirsh was awarded a considerable scholarship to Los Angeles’ University of Southern California Thornton School of Music where he was mentored by Russ Ferrante, Otmaro Ruiz and Alan Pasqua. He graduated in 2012 and has been performing all over Southern California since. He can be seen playing with the Bill Holman Big Band, Melissa Morgan, Henry Franklin, Carl Saunders, Gilbert Castellanos and Roy McCurdy, among others. 

Sam is also a dedicated educator. Along with a thriving private practice, he teaches at the Slauson Learning Center in Inglewood, California, working with grade school children at the keyboard. He was named piano faculty at the first annual Quincy Jones Jazz Camp in the summer of 2019. Since 2017, Sam has accompanied Ruth Price’s UCLA undergraduate Jazz Vocal class. Sam has given masterclasses at several institutions.

Hirsh’s debut album Quite Frankly, featuring saxophone icon Ralph Moore, New York heavyweight John Webber on bass, and Los Angeles drummer Kevin Kanner, was released on all platforms in February 2020 and made JazzWeek Radio Chart’s top 20.