While recording CDs for artists such as Kiss, Willie Nelson, Michael Wolff, Tribal Tech, David Benoit, Bill Cunliffe, Bob Sheppard, Vinny Golia, Alanis Morissette, Mitch Forman, Kim Richmond, Rickie Lee Jones, Hands On'Semble, the Big Phat Band and actors Jeff Bridges and Ronny Cox, Brad Dutz tries to bring the strangest percussion instruments he has to the recording session in order to create a unique sound. He can be heard on the TV shows King of the Hill, Family Guy, American Dad, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation (50 episodes) and Firefly. Some of the movies that Dutz has played on include House, Going in Style, Last Vegas, Battleship, The Bourne Legacy, Cowboys & Aliens, The Prince of Egypt, Syriana, Hidalgo, Rugrats Go Wild, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Ocean's Eleven, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Hollywood Homicide, Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Rush Hour 3, The Rundown and I Spy. Dutz also has recorded for the IMAX films Mysteries of Egypt, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Amazon and Island of the Sharks.
As a member of BMI since 1985, Dutz has produced over forty CDs as leader and composed the entire body of music on more than thirty of those CDs. He is the owner of the publishing company Leaky Spleen Music. The ensembles he has written for cover a wide range of instrumental combinations. In 1990, Dutz started composition studies of multiple scores, mainly 20th-century music, and began studying privately with composers Terry Plumeri, Ron Jones and Russell Steinberg. In addition to CD projects, he has composed for dance and theatre companies as well as for television, movies and silent films. The main focus of Dutz's compositions, however, has been his numerous CD releases, featuring everything from solo pieces to nonets. In 2017, he released a number of CDs, including his Tentet's album, his solo album Drums & Bells and the 5th album release of his quartet project, Genius of Meandering. Dutz's quartet has the unique instrumental combination of mallet percussion, oboe, cello, and bass clarinet. This unit appeared at the Angel City Jazz Festival in 2015, at several colleges and at the Santa Monica Library. Dutz's other ensembles include The Other Three (a trio with Kim Richmond and John Fumo), Obliteration Quartet (featuring found objects for percussionists), the Lett/Mancini/Dutz trio (vibes, bass, and percussion), a duet with reedman Vinny Golia, a duet with Jasper Dutz (a Yamaha Young Performing Artist winner from 2011), and a duet with Dr. Rich MacDonald.
As an educator, Dutz has taught hand percussion at California State University, Long Beach since 1997. He teaches hand percussion for the Pasadena Conservatory of Music at Jefferson Elementary and world music at the Chandler School in Pasadena. Dutz has conducted hundreds of clinics at colleges and high schools on a variety of topics, including studio work, composing for percussion, producing one's own CD, world percussion and freelancing in the music industry. He has also presented master classes and lectures at many schools, including the University of Kentucky, California Institute of the Arts, Saddleback College, Northern Illinois University, Winona State University, California State University Los Angeles, Indiana University, University of North Texas, University of Southern California, University of California Los Angeles, Eastern Illinois University, Southern Methodist University, Pierce College, University of Nebraska, Southern Utah University, Brigham Young University, Utah State University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, among others. In 1995, Dutz was featured on four videotapes (since reissued on DVD) in a series entitled Have Fun Playing Hand Drums that teaches newcomers about playing hand percussion. In addition, he wrote a monthly column for Drum! magazine on hand percussion for four years, and he has written multiple books full of his compositions: Manipulations in Sound and Time; Music for Hand Percussion; and Percussion Pieces for Duos, Trios and Quartets. Dutz's endorsements include Yamaha, Innovative Percussion, Gon Bops, Remo, Paiste, Roland and Rebellion Drums.
