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Daniel Dufour, based in Austin, Texas, is a freelance percussionist who has performed nationally and internationally with extensive teaching and performance experience across the region. Daniel earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Percussion Performance from Sam Houston State University and a Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies from The University of Texas at Austin. As a bandleader, Daniel has released many recordings in the recent years. Distance (2017), Silsbee (2019), and Convergence (2020) feature all-original compositions; Daniel’s 2020 release Standards (2020) begins/ends with free improvisations that settle into a curated collection of classic repertoire. As a sideman, Daniel has been a part of many albums, notably Red Willow by Sean Michael Giddings (2021), Standard by Aubrey Logan (2021), and Caminando Con Papi by Pete Rodriguez (2013).
Daniel has participated in many festivals throughout his career, including the Corpus Christi Jazz Festival, Jazz'S Alive Festival in San Antonio, the SHSU Bill Watrous Jazz Festival, Utopiafest, Lulufest, the Syracuse Jazz Festival, and the Festival De Arte Nuevo (Chihuahua, Mexico). Since performing in Austin, he has had to the opportunity to share the stage with musicians such as Aubrey Logan, Andre Hayward, Mike Sailors, Rotem Sivan, Lynn Seaton, Pete Rodriguez, Gracie Terzian, Michael Weiss, Kirk Covington, Marcos Valera, Remy Le Boeuf, Kevin Lovejoy, John Dokes, Elias Haslanger, Vincent Gardner, Dr. James Polk, and Randy Brecker.
Daniel has taught privately for over a decade, and has worked across the US as a clinician and adjudicator since 2015 at various colleges and high schools. He is also on faculty at Huston-Tillotson University, where he teaches drum set through applied lessons and studio classes.
Daniel can be found most nights playing in venues across the Austin, Houston, and San Antonio areas. He is an artist for Salyers Percussion, Aquarian Drum Heads, Zildjian Cymbals, and Canopus Drums.
