Daniel Villarreal Trio

Drummer, percussionist and composer Daniel Villarreal leads a trio of artists fusing deep histories of psychedelia, jazz, Latin rock and funk for their SPACE debut.

One listen—and one look at the overlapping Venn diagram of musical styles navigated by drummer, percussionist, and composer Daniel Villarreal—reveals an artist who thrives across genres. In his case, the idea that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” feels especially apt. A multi-stylistic drummer, Villarreal moves fluidly from psychedelia and jazz to Latin rock, fusion to funk, blues to ballads, and salsa to soul, always creating something singular each time he performs or records.

At the center of Villarreal’s music is the beat: an essential groove that moves both body and mind, whether experienced live or on record.

Known for his collaborative spirit, Villarreal has performed and recorded extensively with Dos Santos as well as on solo projects with Chicago jazz guitarist Jeff Parker and bassist Anna Butterss. His collaborators span a wide musical spectrum, including legendary jazz drummer, vibraphonist, pianist, and composer Joe Chambers; singer-songwriter and keyboardist Neal Francis; experimental harpist Mary Lattimore; Marshall Allen, longtime leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra; Charlie Hall of The War On Drugs; and classical and folk cellist Leyla McCalla, among others. Across these partnerships, Villarreal brings a composer’s ear to the drum set and an improviser’s instinct for structure and form.

While audiences may first notice his bold style and magnetic presence, fellow musicians prize Villarreal for his versatility and reliability—a deeply pocketed drummer fluent in many sounds and traditions. Through projects like Dos Santos and Ida y Vuelta, he has demonstrated a nuanced command of folkloric Latin music. Yet Villarreal did not begin playing traditional Latin styles until after moving to the United States from his hometown of Panama City. His earliest roots lie instead in the progressive punk and hardcore scenes of Central America, where his bands NO HAY DIA and 2 Huevos 1 Camino were active in the late 1990s. Those formative years remain foundational to his approach.

After his teenage years immersed in punk, Villarreal entered a life-changing mentorship with Freddy Sobers, drummer for El General and Nando Boom—pioneers of reggaeton in Panama. “He taught me how to play all kinds of rhythms and told me I didn’t have to just play punk music,” Villarreal told the Chicago Reader in 2021. “He played everything from Rush to reggaeton to Chick Corea to salsa music. He told me that if I wanted to be a good drummer, I had to learn all the styles.”

Villarreal migrated to the United States in the early 2000s, spending his first decade on a farm near Woodstock, Illinois. During that time, he worked as a social worker connecting migrant laborers with community health clinics, while also raising his two daughters, Estelle and Fania. Every spare moment was devoted to the drums. As his network of collaborators expanded and his presence in the music community deepened, he moved to Chicago in the early 2010s.

After another decade of nonstop sideman work—alongside the growing national recognition of Dos Santos—Villarreal began imagining what his own solo record might be. Early studio experiments in 2017 and 2018 brought him closer, but a turning point came during a 2019 trip to Los Angeles. A simple stereo recording of Villarreal improvising with a first-time ensemble of friends—Elliot Bergman, Jeff Parker, Kellen Harrison, and Bardo Martinez—sparked a clear creative direction. Over the next two years, he recorded in Chicago and Los Angeles, culminating in the release of his debut album, Panamá 77, on International Anthem in spring 2022.

Panamá 77 was met with widespread acclaim from outlets including the Chicago Tribune, Remezcla, Treble Zine (which named it one of the “50 Best Albums of 2022”), and Aquarium Drunkard, which praised its “earthy and humid spiritual jazz” and described the music as “truly organic and alive.”

In October 2020, Villarreal joined guitarist Jeff Parker and bassist Anna Butterss for two afternoons of recording in the backyard of Chicali Outpost in Los Angeles—the trio’s first in-person ensemble session since the pandemic shut down the world months earlier. The resulting album, Lados B, released in October 2023, further revealed Villarreal’s musical vision. Writing for Pitchfork, Daniel Bromfield noted that the record “provides the pleasure of hearing three top-tier players rediscover the joys of playing with each other in real time.”

“I like to contribute to people’s music creatively, adding to what they’re doing,” Villarreal says. “As the rhythmic link to something new, I love the spirit of the community of making music.”

In the summer of 2023, Villarreal relocated to Philadelphia, where he was quickly embraced by a wide-ranging community of musicians and listeners. Since arriving, he has paid tribute to Miles Davis alongside Charlie Hall of The War On Drugs during the Philly Music Festival, performed with Matt Quinn of Mt. Joy, Marshall Allen, and Mary Lattimore, toured with Leyla McCalla, and continues to return frequently to Chicago to collaborate across jazz and rock scenes.

Like the Big Ears Music Festival itself, Villarreal draws strength from multiplicity. He is comfortable jamming, rocking, laying down deep grooves, or pushing into new terrain. As a bandleader, he works fluidly across formats—from trio to sextet—and as a composer, he approaches form from behind the drum kit. “My compositional skills come from the drummer’s seat,” Villarreal says. “It’s all in the spirit of collaboration and innovation.”

Looking ahead to 2026, Villarreal has various projects in the works, including a limited edition vinyl release of Panama 77 and a new album from Dos Santos.

Since relocating to Philadelphia from Chicago in 2023, Villarreal formed Daniel Villarreal Trio, working with emerging Brazilian-American vibraphonist Victor Vieira-Branco and brilliant upright bassist John Moran. Vieira-Branco can be heard in Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra and in Chad Taylor’s Quintet, and leading his own group Bark Culture. A three-week residency at Philly’s own Solar Myth served as a platform to shape and hone the group’s unique sense of groove and vision with the band and resulted in the recording of an album, to be released in 2026. Together, Villarreal, Vieira-Branco, and Moran leave a mark on Philadelphia with their sense of groove, melodicism, and interplay, pulling from their heritage and beyond.

As both bandleader and sideman, Daniel Villarreal continues to expand the role of drums and percussion beyond timekeeping, positioning rhythm as a dynamic, expressive, and central narrative force in contemporary music.