Harold Danko is an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 pianist.

Danko attended Youngstown State University

Youngstown State University

Youngstown State University, founded in 1908, is an urban research university located in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2010, there were 15,194 students and a student-faculty ratio of 19:1. It is recognized as being one of the premier schools in the country, comparable to Ivy League...

. Among his credits are work in the big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

s of Chet Baker

Chet Baker

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...

, Woody Herman

Woody Herman

Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...

, and Thad Jones

Thad Jones

Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...

/Mel Lewis

Mel Lewis

Mel Lewis was an American drummer, jazz musician and band leader. He was born Melvin Sokoloff in Buffalo, New York to Russian immigrant parents....

, as well as smaller ensembles with Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan

Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...

 and Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...

. He worked often with Rich Perry

Rich Perry

Rich Perry is an American jazz tenor saxophonist from Cleveland, Ohio.Rich Perry attended Bowling Green State University for a year before moving to New York. Perry first toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1975, and followed it with time in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra the following...

 in the 1990s and also played with Rufus Reid

Rufus Reid

Rufus Reid is an American jazz bassist, educator, and composer. He lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.-Personal history:...

, Kirk Lightsey

Kirk Lightsey

Kirkland "Kirk" Lightsey is an American jazz pianist.Lightsey had piano instruction from age five and studied piano and clarinet through high school. After service in the Army, Lightsey worked in Detroit and California in the 1960s as an accompanist to singers...

, Jeff Hirshfield

Jeff Hirshfield

Jeffrey Lee Hirshfield is an American jazz drummer.Hirshfield studied under Ed Soph. He worked for the Joffrey Ballet in 1976-77 and then played with Mose Allison . During the 1980s he worked with Red Rodney and Ira Sullivan , Toshiko Akiyoshi , and Bennie Wallace...

, Edward Simon, and Gregory Herbert

Gregory Herbert

Gregory Herbert was an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.Herbert started on alto sax at age 12. In 1964 he did a short stint in the Duke Ellington Orchestra, then studied at Temple University from 1965 to 1971. While a student he recorded with Pat Martino in 1968...

.

Currently Danko in on faculty at Eastman School of Music.

Danko has recorded extensively for label Steeplechase Records

SteepleChase Records

SteepleChase Records is a jazz record label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time...

 since 1993.

Discography

• Harold Danko Quartet (Inner City Records
  Inner City Records
  Inner City Records, an American jazz record label now based in Elmsford, New York, was founded in 1976 by Irv Kratka, owner of Music Minus One, and Eric Kriss, an independent producer. Affiliated labels included Guitar World and Classic Jazz...
  
  , 1975)
• Coincidence (Dreamstreet, 1979)
• Chasin' the Bad Guys (Inner City, 1979)
• Mirth Song (Sunnyside Records
  Sunnyside Records
  Sunnyside Records is an American jazz record label.Sunnyside was founded in 1982 by Francois Zalacain and Christine Berthet. Its early releases consisted primarily of piano solo material and ensembles without drums, but in later years has broadened its selection of material.-Artists who have...
  
  , 1982)
• Ink and Water (Sunnyside, 1983)
• Alone but Not Forgotten (Sunnyside, 1985)
• The First Love Song (Jazz City, 1988)
• Next Age (Steeplechase Records
  SteepleChase Records
  SteepleChase Records is a jazz record label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time...
  
  , 1993)
• After the Rain (Steeplechase, 1994)
• New Autumn (Steeplechase, 1995)
• The Feeling of Jazz (Seeplechase, 1996)
• Tidal Breeze (Steeplechase, 1997)
• ...This Isn't Maybe (Steeplechase, 1999)
• Stable Mates (Steeplechase, 2000
• Three of Four (Steeplechase, 2000)
• Nightscapes (Steeplechase, 2001)
• Prestigious: A Tribute to Eric Dolphy
  Eric Dolphy
  Eric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
  
  (Steeplechase, 2001)
• Fantasy Exit (Steeplechase, 2002)
• Trillix (Steeplechase, 2004)
• Hinesight (Steeplechase, 2005)
• Oatts & Perry (Steeplechase, 2006)
• Times Remembered (Steeplechase, 2007)