Dan Weiss (drums); Jacob Sacks (piano); Thomas Morgan (bass)

Three time Shifting Foundation grantee Dan Weiss has been hailed as one of the top five jazz drummers in The New York Times, and his large ensemble recording ‘Fourteen’ made the top ten list of their best recordings of 2014.  Weiss’s innovative drumming and forward thinking compositions have been pushing musical limits for decades.

Weiss’s intense study of jazz, classical Indian, contemporary classical, west African, and metal sets a musical platform that creates a sound that transcends conventional style or genre. His compositional trademarks are angular yet emotive melodies; complex through composed drum parts, rhythmic cycles native to many non-western music, and melodic shapes drawing directly from the raga system found in Indian classical music With his piano trio, he’s released four recordings entitled, ‘Now Yes When’ ( 2006) and ‘Timshel’ ( 2011), ‘Utica Box’ (2019), and ‘Dedication’ (2022) which have been critically acclaimed for their unique approach to song structure and endless creative improvisation.

Weiss also leads his sixteen piece large ensemble that features some of NYC's most gifted musicians.  The two albums ’Fourteen’ (2014) and “Sixteen: Drummers Suite” (2016) released on the Pi record label have made numerous critic polls.  His project Starebaby which features Craig Taborn, Matt Mitchell, Ben Monder, and Trevor Dunn and is an amalgam of jazz, metal, and new music. They have two recordings out: ‘Starbebaby’ (2018) and ‘Natural Selection’ (2020).

Weiss has been studying  tabla under Pandit Samir Chatterjee for twenty five years.  He has performed with the legendary Ashish Khan and Ramesh Misra and recorded a solo tabla cd “3dcd” (2007).  Weiss recorded two groundbreaking cds “Teental Drumset Solo” (2005) and “Jhaptal Drumset Solo” ( 2011) where he performs classical Indian repertoire on drum set. Recently Weiss and longtime collaborator Miles Okazaki  released a double lp called ‘Music for Drums and Guitar’ (2021). In 2023 Weiss will put out a brand new trio record out featuring Miguel Zenon and Matt Mitchell.