Time, touch
& swing.

From Recanati
to New York.

Andrea Niccolai is an Italian drummer and educator whose playing is rooted in the jazz tradition and shaped by years on the bandstand.

Born in Recanati, Italy, Andrea discovered jazz through his father’s record collection. He studied jazz percussion at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague under Eric Ineke, establishing himself in the European scene during four years in the Netherlands.

In 2018, he moved to New York City to pursue a Master’s degree at SUNY Purchase under Kenny Washington. He soon began collaborating with faculty artists Pete Malinverni, Ingrid Jensen and Gary Smulyan.

Andrea appears on Enrico Le Noci’s Social Music and Victor Oller Trio’s First Song. As a sideman in New York, he has performed with Joe Magnarelli, Jeb Patton, Tardo Hammer, David Wong, Michael Kanan, Rick Germanson, Michael Weiss, Dena DeRose and Francesco Cafiso.

Alongside his performance work, Andrea teaches privately and at music schools throughout Brooklyn, sharing a practical and deeply musical approach to rhythm, sound and ensemble playing.