NICO DANN, drums
Nico Dann has been playing drums and percussion for 10 years. Born in 1983 in Amsterdam to Canadian parents, he began playing music at an early age. In 2001 Nico began studying drums with world-renowned teacher Jim Blackley. From 2002 to 2006 Nico lived in Montreal while earning a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance at McGill University. During this time he studied with many excellent musicians including Remi Bolduc, Chris McCann and Michel Lambert. Since 2003, Nico has been playing in professional groups at venues in and around Toronto and Montreal. These have included, in Montreal, the Upstairs Jazz Club and in Toronto, the Distillery Jazz Festival in 2005. Nico’s various groups have included jazz ensembles, rock and funk bands, an African drumming ensemble and a latin band. In the in the summer of 2006 Nico was a participant in the Banff Summer Program for Jazz and Creative Music. There he studied and played with world class musicians Gene Lake, Clarence Penn, Marcus Strickland and Dave Douglas.
In the last three years, Nico has begun to perform more internationally. Notable engagements with bands ranging from Modern Jazz to Indie-Rock include the Boston Pride festival of 2004, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the Jazz Bar in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan, NY; all in the summer of 2006.
Nico currently lives in Toronto where he continues to be an active performer and teacher in the local music scene.