Dan Nimmer

Dan Nimmer (pianist) was born in Milwaukee on June 11, 1982. He began playing drums at a young age and the piano by ear at age 10 after acquiring his aunt’s old upright. He started classical studies with Barbara Bunge, who recognized his knack for improvising and suggested he study jazz. The summer after eighth grade, Dan met pianist Mark Davis, an instructor at We Six’s summer camp (now called the MJI Annual Summer Camp). They began weekly lessons that continued throughout his years at Greenfield High School. As Dan progressed through high school, his piano skills developed quickly. He started playing with students from the Milwaukee High School of the Arts and performed with veteran Milwaukee jazz artists such as Berkeley Fudge and Adekola Adedapo at jazz clubs like The Estate and the Main Event.

After graduation, Dan enrolled at Northern Illinois University, where he studied piano with another Milwaukee native, Willie Pickens. He became busy gigging in Chicago and left the NIU program during his third year to focus on performing and saving money to move to New York. During this period, he worked with guitarist Fareed Haque, traveling in a van and performing around the country. Dan relocated to New York City and began making connections. In 2005, about a year after arriving, he played a gig with saxophonist Wessell “Warmdaddy” Anderson, who recommended Dan to Wynton Marsalis. Dan was invited to Wynton’s apartment to play, and a couple of months later, he received a call to go on the road with Marsalis’s small group. Not long after, he joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) and has been a band member ever since.

Dan tours the world with Wynton Marsalis and the JLCO, performing at prestigious venues and festivals. The group has made numerous recordings and has appeared many times on national television shows, including The Tonight Show, The View, Good Morning America, and the Kennedy Center Honors. In addition to his work with the JLCO, Dan performs and records with his own trio.

Check out Dan performing “Yours Is My Heart Alone” with David Wong on bass and Pete Van Nostrand on drums, recorded in 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X62POghbJ7U

More information can be found at: https://www.dannimmer.com/