Arriving in the US from his native Israel in 2006 to study at Berklee College of Music before earning his master's at The City College of New York, drummer/composer Pugach played cash-and-carry gigs, traditional ethnic dates, worked coffee shops–anything to keep his drumming and music pure. Eventually teaching himself arranging and orchestration, his complete reimagining of Horace Silver's "Silver's Serenade" led instructor (and renowned pianist/composer/educator) Mike Holober to exclaim, "Your arrangement departed from the original song; it wasn't just an adaptation, but a rearrangement. Dude, you're going to thrive as an arranger/composer."
Dan Pugach is a Brooklyn-based, two-time ASCAP Jazz Composer Award-winning drummer/arranger. Dan has worked with Ingrid Jensen, Rosa Passos, Airto Moreira, Gregoire Maret, Billy Drews, Jeremy Pelt, Wayne Bergeron, Sloan and Lucy Wainwright, and Dave Stryker, among others. Originally from Israel, Dan served his mandatory three-year military duty as the drummer of the Air-Force Orchestra. He received his bachelor's degree from Berklee College of Music and his master's from the City College of New York, where he studied with Hal Crook, Joe Lovano, George Garzone, John Patitucci, Terri Lyne Carrington and Ari Hoenig.