Contact:

Office Phone:
(585) 274-1449
E-mail: hdanko@esm.rochester.edu

Harold Danko
Chair, Jazz Studies & Contemporary Media Department
Professor of Jazz Studies & Contemporary Media
Director, Jazz Performance Workshops

Pianist/composer Harold Danko is best known for his long-term associations with an impressive list of jazz legends including Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Lee Konitz and Woody Herman. Beginning his piano studies at the age of five, Harold became serious about pursuing a career in jazz at the age of fifteen when he commenced studies with Gene Rush in Youngstown, Ohio. After graduation from Youngstown State University and a stint in the Army band Harold, landed the piano chair in Woody Herman's Thundering Herd, which launched his career as a much sought after jazz musician. He also developed a reputation as a respected jazz educator and served on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, the New School/Mannes, and Hartt College.

He has performed at major jazz venues throughout the world as well as on recordings, television and video. As a band leader he has been featured in Lincoln Center's "Meet the Artist" series, Washington (DC) Performing Arts Society series at J.F.K. Center, the Rochester International Jazz Festival, and numerous jazz festivals both in the USA and abroad. In 1995 he was awarded an NEA Fellowship to perform his own works in a series of concerts in New York City. Throughout the 90s Harold performed with and composed for his own quartet with Rich Perry (tenor saxophone), Scott Colley (bass) and Jeff Hirshfield (drums) and more recently a trio with Hirshfield and Michael Formanek (bass) with whom he has recorded a series of highly acclaimed CDs on the SteepleChase label. For more than two decades, Harold has won ASCAP awards, based on "the unique prestige value of [his] catalogue of original compositions."

He accepted an appointment from Eastman in 1998 and now chairs the Jazz and Contemporary Media department. He teaches jazz piano, directs the Jazz Performance Workshops, and heads the Eastman Jazz Trio, whose first CD was released in 2003. In addition to his own educational video, Jazz Keyboard Techniques, available only in Brazil, he can be seen and heard on video performances with Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, and Lee Konitz. Harold's featured column, "Solo Piano", appeared in Keyboard Magazine for more than five years, and his keyboard improvisation method, the Illustrated Keyboard Series, is a widely used reference.

Selected Discography

Under his own name, as leader

Hinesight   SteepleChase
Trilix   SteepleChase
Next Age   SteepleChase
New Autumn   SteepleChase
After the Rain   SteepleChase
The Feeling of Jazz   SteepleChase
Tidal Breeze   SteepleChase
Three of Four   SteepleChase
Nightscapes   SteepleChase
This Isn't Maybe   SteepleChase
Prestigious   SteepleChase
Fantasy Exit   SteepleChase
Mirth Song   Sunnyside
Alone But Not Forgotten  Sunnyside
Shorter By Two   Sunnyside

CDs with other artists include:

with Rich Perry
Rich Perry at Eastman

with Clay Jenkins
Matters of Time

with the Kim Richmond / Clay Jenkins Ensemble
CrossWeave

with Chet Baker:
Once Upon a Summertime
Chet Baker in Tokyo

with Lee Konitz:
Ideal Scene
Dearly Beloved
New York Album

with Woody Herman:
The Raven Speaks

with Mel Lewis and Thad Jones:
The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Quartet

Videos

Jazz Keyboard Techniques (available only in Brazil)
Gerry Mulligan: Jazz in America
Chet Baker: My Funny Valentine — Chet Baker in Tokyo
Lee Konitz: Konitz, Portrait of an Artist as Saxophonist