Daniel Glass
Daniel grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii,and started playing drums at the age of eight. After obtaininga bachelor's degree from Brandeis University in Boston, Danielcontinued his musical training at the Dick Grove School ofMusic in 1991. For the following two and a half years, Danielworked as a freelance musician in Los Angeles, recording for avariety of independent labels and touring with jazz singer BarbaraMorrison and veteran blues guitarist Debbie Davies. He has beena student of master teacher Freddie Gruber since 1992.
In 1994, Daniel brought his abilitiesto L.A. swing phenomenon Royal Crown Revue, the group thatsingle handedly inspired today's "Neo-Swing" resurgenceby combining 1940s style with modern raw power. As the resultof an extremely successful stint as the original house band atthe Derby Club in Los Angeles, the group was signed toWarner Brothers Records by super-producer Ted Templeman(of Van Halen and Doobie Bros. fame). RCR's releases, Mugzy'sMove (1996), Caught in the Act (1997), The Contender (1998 - onwhich Daniel co-wrote 5 tracks), Walk on Fire (1999) and Passportto Australia (2001) - have sold well over 400,000 units to date,keeping the band on a breakneck schedule of more than 200 showsa year through 2001.
Touring highlights with RCR includea headlining spot on the Van's Warped Tours '97 and '99 (withstops in Europe, Australia and Japan), a spot on the 1998 PlayboyJazz Festival, and national tours with The B-52's, Pretenders,and KISS. The band performed with Bette Midler at the1998Billboard Music Awards, and was featured in the nation's top jazzfestivals (including Concord, Saratoga, Newport and JVC LincolnCenter). In September of 1999, RCR headlined two sold out performanceswith the 110 piece Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Throughout2001-'02, the band has continued to expand its horizons with successfulheadlining tours of Japan, Europe and Australia.
With RCR, Daniel has kept busy inthe world of TV and film, writing, recording and performing the"Dubba, Dubba WB" theme for the WB Network's'98/'99 season. The group's music has been featured in everythingfrom Jim Carrey's The Mask, to countless TV shows,movie trailers, ad campaigns, gymnastic routines at the 1996 and2000 Summer Olympics, even behind Miss America contestants. TVappearances have included Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, ConanO'Brien, The Today Show, The Roseanne Show, Viva Variety (Com.Central), Tales from the Crypt (HBO), MTV's Rock-n-JockB-Ball Jam and Swing Alive, a national PBS special (inwhich Daniel went head to head with Frank Sinatra's Gregg Fieldin a drum-battle version of "Sing,Sing,Sing").
Outside of RCR, Daniel has performedand recorded with a variety of artists, including Bette Midler,Mike Ness (of Social Distortion fame), Johnny Boyd (formerlyof Indigo Swing), rockabilly legend Robert Gordon, Sinatra guitaristAl Viola, Reno renegades The Saddletramps, Unknown Hinson, andthe instrumental work of Ensemble Abstract and the IndustrialJazz Group. He has appeared on the covers of Modern Drummermagazine (Dec. '98), Drummerdude magazine (Issue #8), and hasbeen featured twice in DRUM!.
October, 2002 marked the releaseof Something Colorful, the first CD on which Danielacts as leader, drummer and producer. The Daniel Glass Trio'sdebut is the flagship release for VeryTall Music, a label thatDaniel co-founded with LA publicist David Millman (whose clientsinclude Chicago, Boney James and Sheila E.). The DGT has touredinternationally, with a Sept. '02 European tour, and an appearanceat the Havana International Jazz Festival in Dec. 2002.
In addition to his work on the bandstand,Daniel is a published writer and burgeoning music historian. ModernDrummer Magazine published his writings on the developmentof neo-swing drumming as a four part series, "Swingin'in a Modern Age" (July-October '99). Daniel is also awriter for Stick It Magazine, profiling historical styleslike Rockabilly, and legendary master drummers that have madea significant impact on musical history (artists like Louis Jordan'sJohnny Kirkwood, and the great Louie Bellson). Daniel is a regularcontributor to a variety of music websites, such as Learn2drum.comand Musician.com. He also wrote the foreward to MusicHoundSwing Essential Album Guide. Since January 2000, he has programmedthe Swing channel for online radio giant SonicNet/Mtvi.,and as of Fall, 2001, he is also the programmer and on-air DJfor the jazz channel on Delta Airlines inflight radio.
July, 2002 saw the release of Daniel'sfirst full length book, "The RCR Drum Transcription Book,"a 56 page overview of five major historical drumming styles usingexamples from the Royal Crown Revue repertoire as illustrations.Daniel also put out his first instructional video, Principlesof Swing Time in 2002.
Currently, Daniel is preparing anew book on roots styles of drumming, set for release in 2003.With over 40 interviews already conducted as part of the research,this book will be the first of its kind to combine six decadesof drum history with instruction, interviews of legendary playersand never before seen photos and other drumming memorabilia. Thebook will published by Warner Bros. Publishing, the world'slargest purveyor of music instructional materials.
EQUIPMENT- When playing live or recording, Daniel prefers to choose fromhis arsenal of vintage gear, but he also endorses Drum Workshop(drums, pedals, hardware), Trueline Drumsticks (check outthe Daniel Glass Signature Model), Regal Tip Brushes,Aquarian Drumheads, K&K Microphonesand Diggit Stick Weights.