Updated: September 22, 2025
Born: 1955
Dan Krimm began studying music formally with classical violin lessons (and brief study on piano as well) while in elementary school in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the 60s. He concentrated on violin through high school, also picking up acoustic guitar informally in junior high.
While in college at Princeton in the 70s, he got hooked by the contemporary developments in jazz, especially including Chick Corea's 'Return to Forever' group and a host of artists recording for ECM Records. In 1975, he bought his first electric bass, and began learning the instrument, the jazz form and improvisation, and composition.
At Princeton he played with hammer-style guitarist Stanley Jordan, recorded with Tony Branker, co-led his own group with pianist Gary Monheit, and played with many others, moving to New York City in 1981.
Dan was awarded an NEA Jazz Fellowship Grant in 1984, and recorded two albums of mostly original compositions for his own label, Overtone Records (Sentience, 1986, guest artists: Vic Juris/guitar, Marty Fogel/sax; Subtle Truth, 1991).
In addition to leading his own groups for several years in New York City (variously including Gary Monheit, Grant Jarrett, Jan Leder, Scott Healy, Gary Gibbons, Rolf Sturm, Mike Foster and Tom Nazziola) and performing with a wide variety of others, he has recorded and performed with folk singer/songwriter Margo Hennebach and jazz singer Arlette Beauchamps, performed regularly with Chris Joannou and Susan Fiering, and was a founding member of the exploratory music group Monkeyworks.
Dan moved to Los Angeles in 2000. He has recorded and performed with avant-improv percussionist Rich West. He has also performed with post-bop jazz guitarist Kim Reith, as well as free-improv jams with people like Bruce Friedman and Natural Music (John Coker and Ed Nunnery).
Dan moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2006 and began playing with the modern-jazz quintet Fortune Smiles including Gary Monheit, piano. He and Gary played together as a duo for a few years and then released a trio album 'New Shoots' with special guest Scott Amendola on drums on March 6, 2016.
His new album 'Second Wind' was released on September 25, 2025, including six new original tunes. Gary returns on piano, along with Grant Jarrett on drums, and adding Rob Sudduth on soprano sax.
Dan's stylistic range reaches across several sub-genres of jazz, including modern-mainstream, progressive, rock/funk fusion, world/ethnic fusions (including latin jazz, and "ECM-Records"), and avant garde.
Awards
1984: National Endowment for the Arts, Jazz Fellowship
Gear
Pedulla Pentabuzz bass guitar (fretless, 5-strings with high-C, D'Addario round- wound strings) MarkBass combo amp (Jeff Berlin model)
Tags
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Take Five With Dan Krimm
by AAJ Staff
This article was updated on September 22, 2025. Meet Dan Krimm: Progressive/contemporary jazz fretless electric bass guitarist and composer. I was most active in the '80s and early '90s leading my own bands and recording two albums (re-released in 2011). I also produced a final concert, recorded and videotaped in 1993, and mastered/released for the first time in 2013 (see video below). Released a trio album with my friend Gary Monheit in 2016 with new original tunes by ...
Continue Reading"Throughout New Shoots, Krimm affects an exceedingly warm, woody tone on his Pedulla electric bass guitar along with an uncommonly lyrical penchant on his instrument, sounding like a cross between electric bass pioneer Steve Swallow and upright bass master Buster Williams. That deep-toned quality underscores all of the tracks on this appealing trio session, while his extraordinary facility and melodic ingenuity as an improviser provides a flurry of low-end highlights along the way. ... That this partnership between Monheit and Krimm has not only sustained from their fusion-inspired Princeton days but actually grown incrementally, arriving at this new level for the aptly-titled New Shoots, is a triumph in these days of dwindling opportunities for jazz musicians
