Dan Bailey composes original music for commercial and Film Projects.
To view a Demo Reel,
please email a request and proposal to:
Dan performs at venues, private events, benefits and beaches throughout the Hamptons and NYC.
He performs with his band Living Rhythm, the Djambeli Drum and Dance group and as a solo act.
He has been teaching African Drumming since the age of 13 and hosts classes and private lessons in the Hamptons.
“Hamptons for Haiti” Fundraiser a Huge Success “After comments to the audience and acknowledgement of supports and volunteers by Schneiderman, Bailey opened the fundraiser fronting the incredible Djambeli Drum & Dance featuring African drumming, singing and dance. The extraordinary, simply electric performance had audience members screaming, clapping and stamping their feet in cadence with the intense, melodic rhythms of the almost two dozen musicians. Bailey evoked chants of goodwill and love toward the Haitian people and was joined by the almost 300 members of the audience in unison...”
Hamptons native, master African drummer and prolific songwriter, Dan Bailey brings a new brand of Reggae to mainstream attention. His music is deeply rooted in African rhythm and Reggae, yet it moves beyond the standard genres. While fusing Ska, Blues and Latin beats through his signature rhythmic changes, Dan intensifies his performance with fierce and primal drum breaks. Yet the most irresistible element of his music is it's wholly positive and empowering message, delivered with the natural embodiment of a rock star. If one were to describe Dan Bailey in terms of other artists, one might imagine the smoothness of Jack Johnson, the summer energy of Sublime, the timeless message of Bob Marley and the image of Jim Morrison. From the age of 8, Dan Bailey studied African rhythm with his godfather, Grammy Award-winning master drummer, Babatunde Olatunji. By 12, he was teaching and performing as a professional musician. At 19, he traveled solo around the world in search of his musical destiny. Upon his return to New York, he founded Idris Records and released 5 albums, including 2 of his original music. In the summer of 2009, Dan Bailey & Living Rhythm exploded onto the Hamptons scene, performing in high demand at the hottest venues and events. Dan has also developed the Hamptons’ most notorious event: the Monday Night Drum Circle, which by summer’s peak had to be dissolved by police when over 1500 people came to party on the beach as Dan led an acoustic concert featuring over 20 drummers. Titled by the New York Times as “the Beat Master,” Dan Bailey has opened for The Wailers, Culture, Maxi Priest, Inner Circle and was featured by the South African All-Stars. Most recently, Living Rhythm has featured Bill Smith (Skatalites), Bakithi Kumalo (Paul Simon) and Nonhlanhla Kheswa (Wyclef Jean). This summer, with the momentum of the Hamptons, a fresh line-up of talented musicians, access to NYC’s fan base, and a new album in development, Dan Bailey is perfectly poised to deliver his message to the world.
By the age of 26, Dan Bailey, of Sag Harbor, has traveled solo around the world and driven across practically the entire continent of Africa.
In addition to being a world traveler, Bailey is also a singer/songwriter, composer, drummer, break dancer, African dancer, photographer, graphic designer, clothing designer, curator, surfer, skater, snowboarder and pranic healer, who practices yoga and Reiki, and who is an aficionado of fine cooking and wines.
Mr. Bailey, who lives in East Hampton, is an accomplished drummer, guitarist and songwriter, but his connection to the African drum is personal. His mentor was the Grammy Award-winning Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji, a family friend. Mr. Olatunji, who died in 2003, taught Mr. Bailey how to play the djembe when he was 12 years old. It is Mr. Olatunji’s innovative drum language that Mr. Bailey teaches today.
Dan Bailey (left) performing at the drum circle parties that were held every Monday night this summer at Sagg Main Beach, an event that gained popularity both because it was deemed an excellent way to spend a summer evening and because of the controversy that surrounded the event once neighbors began to complain.
Southampton - It was almost impossible to go anywhere on the East End this summer and not hear the name Dan Bailey. Whether he was jamming on African drums with Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman at the weekly Monday night drum circle at Sagg Main beach, hosting Thursday night drum lessons at One Ocean Yoga in Bridgehampton, or playing with his band Dan Bailey and Living Rhythm at venues like Regular's Music Café, the Talkhouse or regularly at the Surf Lodge in Montauk, Bailey consistently kicked out great jams and enhanced the fun quotient at every event he played.
When he returned home, Bailey, who grew up in East Quogue and graduation from Westhampton Beach H.S., never questioned it again. Instead, he got right to work, starting up his own label, Idris Records, and recording and releasing his music, which was now influenced by his travels and steeped in the world music he had encountered: Latin and African elements, reggae, ska and blues. "All the different places I'd been to brought out different flavors in my music," he said.
Since coming home, Bailey has become a formidable presence on the East End. Heand his group, Living Rhythm (which features Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, as well as Billy Smith of the Skatalites), regularly play venues like the Stephen Talkhouse, Surf Lodge and East Hampton Point. Past members of the ever-changing group include Bakithi Kumalo (Paul Simon) and Nonhlanhla Kheswa (Wyclef Jean).
