Daniel Freedman is a New York City-born drummer, percussionist, composer, and producer whose genre-defying work bridges jazz, global music, and contemporary performance. A student of legendary drummers Max Roach and Billy Higgins, Freedman has spent decades exploring the rhythmic traditions of West Africa, Cuba, and Morocco, developing a distinctive musical language rooted in jazz and informed by cultures around the world.

Freedman has toured, performed, and recorded with an extraordinary range of artists, including David Byrne, Angélique Kidjo, Anat Cohen, Sting, Avishai Cohen, and Meshell Ndegeocello. He is the co-founder of Saha Gnawa, which he leads with master Moroccan musician Maalem Hassan Ben Jaafer. The group brings the centuries-old Gnawa tradition into dialogue with contemporary jazz. Its debut recording features Nels Cline, Jason Lindner, Gilad Hekselman, and Donny McCaslin.

Freedman is currently touring New Sketches of Spain with trumpeter, composer, and arranger Michael Leonhart and flamenco dance legend Israel Galván. He was an original member of David Byrne’s acclaimed American Utopia, touring internationally, performing in the Broadway production, and appearing in the Spike Lee-directed film. He was also the drummer for Justin Peck and Sufjan Stevens’ Broadway production of Illinoise.

As a leader, Freedman has released the albums Trio, Bamako By Bus, Imagine That, and Ghost Modern. His 2016 album Imagine That received a five-star review in DownBeat, which described Freedman as having “quietly, almost surreptitiously, become a primal force,” creating “a kind of people’s music” from folk rhythms, ethnic melodies, and joyous performances.

Freedman produced Saha Gnawa’s 2025 debut album, which Songlines called “a remarkable collaboration and a brilliant album.”