Daniel Küffer

Daniel Küffer was born on 12 August 1966 in Langenthal (Switzerland) into a family dedicated to music. His parents were active in the brass band movement and his sister Regula Küffer is a well-known classical flute player. Daniel graduated from the Swiss Jazz School (Berne) in 1993 with honours. He soon gained a reputation as one of the most versatile players around. Mastering techniques from within the jazz tradition he soon conceived a variety of innovative projects exploring new paths with his own jazz quartet, Daniel Küffer Quartet, or taking part in numerous session projects. He has earned great reviews with his first unusual recording project: a CD trilogy released from 1995 - 1997. The next release "Playing Elvis" transformed a number of Elvis’ classics into surprising New Standards: emotional, energetic and soulful playing combined with state of the art recording techniques made it a highly acclaimed production. In 1997, the readers of JAZZ magazine voted Daniel Küffer, “Best Tenor Saxophonist Of The Year”.

He engaged in collaborations with a number of interesting duo partners: with Désirée Dell’Amore (Italy, harp), Mark Soskin (USA, piano) or Dani Solimine (CH, 7-string-guitar). Further projects include live shows with the London based DJ Ben Allen (stereodogs) in Europe and South Africa or performances and scores for ballet ensembles such as Sweet Dreaming by Swiss choreographer Oliver Dähler. Since 2001 Daniel Küffer has been touring the world with harpist Andreas Vollenweider. Daniel has also been part of many live music shows on Swiss television and as a session musician he’s been recorded on more than 250 CD productions.

In 2000 he founded a highly innovative project combining live painting and music for corporate clients for their vision/strategy management. A unique and creative approach to team building and a stunning success with more than 500 clients in various European countries to date. During the Covid period Daniel created the 365 Jazz Garage,  a witty and wonderful recording project out of a car mechanic’s workshop.

Photo credit: Paul Merki (crop factory)