Acclaimed jazz pianist and Origin Records recording artist Danny Green has earned recognition as a bandleader, performer, arranger, and composer, known for his introspective yet dynamic musical narratives. Green’s portfolio of vibrant sounds – an enchanting mix of jazz, classical, pop and Brazilian music – has captured the attention of critics around the world, including DownBeat Magazine, Jazziz, The San Diego Union Tribune, The Boston Globe, and Public Radio International. According to JazzReview.com, “Danny Green is what evolution in jazz is all about, expressing the traits of those that came before him, with a style and panache that is all his own.” Green has earned two San Diego Music awards for Best Jazz Album as well as for Best Jazz Artist.
Green’s talents have taken him from the Blue Note in New York City to the Blue Whale in Los Angeles. In addition to leading his own groups, Green has performed with a number of notable musicians including Paquito D’Rivera, Chico Pinheiro, Peter Sprague, Charles McPherson, Claudia Villela, Pacho Flores, and the San Diego Symphony.
A San Diego native, Green’s musical journey was molded by during his time as a student at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he pursued a formal music education while also cutting his teeth in the San Diego music scene. He studied jazz piano with Grammy winning producer Kamau Kenyatta, as well as classical piano with John Mark Harris and Luciani Cardassi. Initially working as a sideman, Green quickly began leading his own groups, and by the time he graduated, it was clear that a music career would be his path.
Early on, Green was primarily interested in playing Latin jazz and salsa. He worked with multiple groups in San Diego, and soon began arranging and composing music for those groups. It was also during that time that Green developed his love for Brazilian music. He attended California Brazil Camp from 2006-2010, where he studied with some of the biggest names in Brazilian Jazz including Marcos Silva, Chico Pinheiro, Jovino Santos Neto, Guinga, Edu Ribeiro, and Marcio Bahia. Green also continued his jazz piano studies with Rick Helzer, and went on to pursue a Masters Degree in jazz studies at San Diego State University (SDSU) under Helzer’s guidance.
Since 2009, Green has released a highly acclaimed body of work. Green’s debut album entitled With You In Mind on Pacific Coast Jazz Records. Featuring ten original compositions, and one cover, the album received extensive airplay around the globe, rose to #18 on the Jazz Week Charts, and won “Best Jazz Album” at the 2009 San Diego Music Awards.
In 2012, Green teamed up with Tapestry Records to release A Thousand Ways Home. The album featured Green’s trio with bassist Justin Grinnell and drummer Julien Cantelm, along with a talented cast of guest artists inducing guitarists Chico Pinheiro, Peter Sprague, and Dusty Brough, Brazilian vocalist Claudia Villela, saxophonist Tripp Sprague, and mandolinist Eva Scow. A Thousand Ways Home received numerous rave reviews nationwide, rose to #17 on the Jazz Week Charts, was voted into KSDS Jazz 88.3’s “Top Ten Jazz Releases of 2012,” and was nominated “Best Jazz Album” at the 2013 San Diego Music Awards.
In 2014, the Danny Green Trio released the highly-acclaimed album After The Calm on Origin/OA2 Records. Featuring ten of Green’s compositions, the album received much praise from the press and nationwide radio play, and won “Best Jazz Album” at the 2015 San Diego Music Awards and was also nominated for “Album of the Year.”
With the success of these first few releases, Green decided to start touring with his trio. Their first trip was to the Bay Area in 2015, and over the next several years, they maintained a steady touring schedule throughout the United States and Canada.
Green’s trio recorded their 2016 release, Altered Narratives, at New York City’s famed Sear Sound recording studio with award-winning producer Matt Pierson. Released on Origin/OA2 Records, the album consists of eleven original compositions by Green. The three tunes at the center of the album feature the trio with a string quartet led by violinist Antoine Silverman, a widely admired New York classical and studio player. All About Jazz critic Dan McClenaghan commented, “There’s nothing that adds a touch of elegance to a jazz set more than an adeptly-done string arrangement, and these are superb; violins, viola and cello in a sinuous, sometimes whispering embrace with a vibrant, top-notch piano trio, delving into Danny Green’s distinguished compositions.” The album remained on the Jazz Week Top 50 chart for fourteen weeks and earned high praise from critics worldwide.
Following the release of One Day It Will, Green formed the Danny Green Trio Plus Strings, which went on to tour throughout the United States. Their debut performance was in 2016 at New York City’s Shapeshifter Lab with special guest Chico Pinheiro. Other notable performances include shows at the Telluride Jazz Festival, Huntington Summer Arts Festival (NY), TEDxSan Diego at Copley Symphony Hall, KSDS Jazz 88.3’s Jazz Live (San Diego), Portola Vineyards Summer Jazz Series (Los Altos, CA), The Blue Whale (Los Angeles), An Die Musik Live! (Baltimore), and Rockwood Music Hall (NYC). The Danny Green Trio Plus Strings was selected to perform at the prestigious Western Arts Alliance Juried Showcase in 2017.
The Danny Green Trio Plus Strings released its first full length album, One Day It Will, in 2018. The album features San Diego Symphony violinists Kate Hatmaker and Igor Pandurski, violist Travis Maril, and cellist Erica Erenyi. One Day It Will was featured in DownBeat Magazine, Jazz Weekly (selected as “Ringer of the Week”), CD Hotlist (selected as “Pick of the Month”), The New York City Jazz Record, Mercury News, and Long Islander News, among many other press outlets. Jazz da Gama called the album, “one to die for.” The album remained on the Jazz Week Top 50 charts for five weeks and was featured multiple times on Public Radio International’s nationally syndicated Jazz After Hours.
In 2015, Green combined forces between his trio and vocalist Leonard Patton to form LP And The Vinyl. Represented by Marian Liebowitz Artist Management, they have performed at notable festivals and concert halls including the Telluride Jazz Festival, the Vail Jazz Festival, Chandler Center for the Arts, Tempe Center for the Arts, the Carolina Theatre, and the Strings Music Festival. They won the prestigious South Arts Jazz Road Tours grant in 2023 in support of their touring activities in Florida and Georgia. LP And The Vinyl has participated in multiple residencies for organizations including Quad City Arts, Alpine Artisans, and Onstage Ogden. The residencies included a mix of educational outreach programs, community engagement, and performances.
LP And The Vinyl’s debut album, Heard And Seen was released in April 2020 on Origin/OA2 Records and features music by The Beatles, Quincy Jones, Tears for Fears, David Bowie, Oasis, as well as jazz standards, and original songs. Jazz critic Travis Rogers Jr. said of the album, “From tight arrangements to free-wheeling improvisations, this telepathic trio evolves into an equally intercommunicating quartet with Leonard Patton. If there is a group worthy of special attention and reintroduction in jazz, it is LP And The Vinyl.”
Green has been a longtime collaborator with internationally acclaimed guitarist Peter Sprague, and since 2023, he has been a full-time member of Sprague’s projects. In addition to performing at some of the top venues in Southern California, they have recorded a number of albums including All You Need Is Love: Peter Sprague Plays The Beatles, Estrada Do Sol: Peter Sprague Plays Jobim, Hurricane Country: Peter Sprague Plays Grusin and Klugh, One Fell Swoop, Christmas Time Is Here: Peter Sprague Plays Vince Guaraldi, So Far Away: Peter Sprague Plays Carole King, and several others.
Green is currently in the process of producing his first solo piano album. Recorded over two days at Tritone Recording in Glendale, CA, the song selections include a mix of jazz standards, arrangements of music by The Beatles and Stevie Wonder, original compositions, and fully improvised pieces. The album is slated for release in October, 2026 on Origin/OA2 Records.
Green is highly active as a jazz educator. In addition to his work as a private instructor, Green has given masterclasses and clinics throughout the United States, and has taught at numerous colleges and jazz camps. Since 2013, Green has co-led a grant-supported program entitled The World of Jazz, which introduces students throughout San Diego County to jazz music. The program is a part of the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library’s outreach offerings and has reached over 25,000 students since its inception.
Green is also known as a highly skilled music arranger and transcriber. Throughout the years, Green has worked on thousands of arrangements and transcriptions for artists across the globe. In 2019, Green published a collection of Fred Hersch transcriptions under the guidance of Hersch entitled Fred Hersch Compositions: Eight Piano Transcriptions. Two years later, Green served as editor for Michael Lucke’s book of Hersch transcriptions entitled Fred Hersch Songs From Home: Complete Transcriptions for the Piano.
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