BRAD DUTZ has been called "One of L.A.'s true oddballs. A merger of Harry Partch and Spike Jones, a musical whiz kid and a hopeless crackpot". Brad was born in 1960 in Decatur, Illinois and studied music privately throughout his youth. After high school he studied at the University of North Texas, Berklee College of Music and Milliken University. In 1982 he moved to Los Angeles and began free-lancing until 1984 when he joined Maynard Ferguson and toured around the country. Beside his nine solo CD’s. - Krin, Camels, Railroads, Grill, Making Ice, Obliteration Quartet, My Bongo, John Holmes- Brad Dutz Duos, and the first Brad Dutz CD, he has co-produced twelve others and played as a sideman for 210 titles. In 1995, Warner Brothers and Interworld selected Brad to do eight videotapes for beginners entitled Have Fun Playing Hand Drums. He can be heard on TV shows King of the Hill, Muppet Christmas, Enterprise and Firefly. Some of the movies that Brad has played on are Prince of Egypt, Incredible Hulk, Hidalgo, Rugrats Go Wild, Star Trek 5, Ocean’s Eleven, Hollywood Homicide, Run Down and I Spy. IMAX films: Mysteries of Egypt, Mt. Kilamanjaro, Amazon, and Island of Sharks. In addition to playing mallets, hand percussion is his specialty. He has studied many instruments; congas, berimbau, bata, bodhran, bones, pandiero, djembe, tabla,kanjira, doumbec, riq and others. While recording CD’s for artists like Alanis Morrisette, Kiss, Jewel, Willie Nelson, Tribal Tech, David Benoit, Rick Braun, Vinny Golia, Lee Ann Ryhmes, Mitch Forman,Terence Trent Darby, Rickie Lee Jones, Hands On’Semble, and even Jeff Bridges, Brad tries to bring the strangest percussion instruments he has to the session to create a unique sound. Every year he travels to colleges and stores to do clinics and concerts on hand percussion and mallets. His endorsements include Vic Firth, Remo, Yamaha, Paiste, and Mountain Rythym. Since becoming a member of the part-time faculty of Cal State Long Beach seven years ago Brad has finished two books, “Practicing Music on Hand Percussion” and “Duos, Trios, and Quartets for Percussion”. Last year his Obliteration Quartet was the subject of a documentary film.

Brad's website: http:///www.braddutz.com