Dan Tepfer

Last updated

Dan Tepfer
Dan Tepfer Madrid.jpg
Tepfer performing in Madrid, Spain
Background information
Born (1982-01-08) 8 January 1982 (age 43)
Paris, France
Genres
OccupationMusician
InstrumentPiano
Years active2005–present
Labels Sunnyside, Verve, StorySound
Website www.dantepfer.com

Dan Tepfer (born 8 January 1982, in Paris, France) is a French-American jazz pianist and composer. He is best known for his 2011 album Goldberg Variations/Variations and his 2019 multimedia project Natural Machines.

Contents

Biography

Dan Tepfer grew up in Paris, France, in a musical and scientific family. He received a bachelor's degree in astrophysics from the University of Edinburgh and a master's degree in jazz piano performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. [1] He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he works as a pianist and composer. [2] He tours around the world, with frequent appearances in Europe in particular. [3] Since 2009, he has released a series of critically acclaimed [4] recordings on the labels Sunnyside and Verve, working in trio, duo, and solo formats.

One of his most frequent musical collaborations are duos with saxophonists, including his mentor Lee Konitz, as well as Miguel Zenón and Ben Wendel. Tepfer's project, Natural Machines, which combines video and audio technology with improvised piano playing, [5] debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2025 [6] with an update that allows him to "play" an entire orchestra in real time. He has become a fixture in the New York live jazz scene, at jazz clubs and house concerts. [6]

Awards and honors

Discography

With Billy Hart

Film Score

References

  1. Panken, Ted (January 2012). "Dan Tepfer | Back To Bach" (PDF). DownBeat . Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  2. West, Michael J. (April 2013). "'One of the Guys We Talk About'". JazzTimes . Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  3. "Dan Tepfer | Calendar". dantepfer.com. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  4. Tommasini, Anthony (13 September 2013). "Variations on Famed Variations". The New York Times . Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  5. Farber, Jim (19 December 2023). "In Dan Tepfer's World, Human and Machine Meet on Even Ground". www.sfcv.org. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  6. 1 2 Lutz, Phillip (10 June 2025). "Dan Tepfer House Concert Gives Insights into His Writing Process". DownBeat . Retrieved 11 December 2025.