Daniel Haschke is a saxophonist and flautist based in Madison, WI.  While he has played in a wide variety of projects and genre, he is best known for his remarkable showmanship and invitational charisma that he brings to every event.  Most often, Daniel can be found performing with funk-fusion group Wurk and acoustic trio Old Oaks.

Raised in New Lisbon, WI, Daniel showed interest in music, art and performing at a young age. In third grade, eagerly waiting to join the fifth grade band, he would steal away his sister’s clarinet and teach himself his first scales. When it was finally time to begin band class, Daniel picked up his first alto saxophone and his passion only grew from there.  Although opportunities were limited in his small hometown he took as many as he could, such as beginning to learn the flute and oboe and touring Europe with the Wisconsin Ambassadors of Music honors band.  In the spring of his junior year he would earn the WSMA Exemplary Soloist Award on tenor saxophone.

Daniel started studying at UW-Madison in 2011, and although his stint at the music school was short-lived (he instead earned a B.A. of Philosophy in 2016) his music education had only just begun.  He toured the country with the Wisconsin Singers Band for four years, where he performed and danced to American popular music on saxophones and flute and taught workshops with jazz bands and show choirs.  Daniel also had the honor to study under Professor Richard Davis for four years in his Black Music Ensemble, learning jazz, blues and improvisation from one of America’s most prolific bassists.

Building off of connections made and skills honed at the university, Daniel made an impression with the 16-plus-piece swing band DB Orchestra and quickly filled their 1st Tenor chair in 2016, a position he still holds. Other projects came and went, expanding his experience across several genres. He crossed paths with Dave Randall (Captain Smooth) in 2017, leading him to perform and record with projects like Red Rose and Dub Foundation. Red Rose’s funk brought him to his first show at Majestic Theatre and to a sold-out performance opening for TOO MANY ZOOZ. He recorded tenor sax, clarinet and flute for The Good, The Bad, and the Dubby, a spaghetti Western film project of Dub Foundation’s that lead to a cross-country tour in 2018.

Around the same time, Daniel was making several guest appearances with Wurk, a funk-fusion band made up of fellow Wisconsin Singers alumni and his past housemates. He officially joined the band in 2018, just in time to record for their EP The Devil’s Wurk in the spring. That winter, Wurk would compete in and win the Madison Area Music Association’s (MAMA’s) Breakthrough Artist of the Year Competition, shining a spotlight on their ambitious musicianship and foreshadowing their sweep of the 2019 MAMA Awards, snatching five awards including the coveted Artist of the Year Award. (They would go on to win Artist of the Year one more time in 2022.)

Wurk’s growing notoriety would allow them to tour heavily across Wisconsin and the surrounding states, opening for acts like The Motet, Andy Frasco and the U.N., and Armchair Boogie, and becoming a festival mainstay at Driftless Music Gardens. Guitarist Frank Laufenberg (also a Wisconsin Singers alumnus) and he would form another project in Old Oaks, bringing their unique blend of folk and funk across Wisconsin as well.

Daniel has also been heard as a guest with Kat and the Hurricane (2023 MAMA Artist of the Year), Los Chechos, Angela Puerta and more. He has recorded with projects such as Kat and the Hurricane, The Earthlings, and Keith Hampton. He most often plays tenor and alto saxophones and flute and alto flutes, though he has recently picked up the bass saxophone and occasionally brings out his soprano sax, clarinet, piccolo and melodica.