Danny Grissett

Grissett was born in Los Angeles in 1975.[1] He first played the piano at the age of five, taking classical music lessons.[2] He graduated with a B.A. in Music Education[1] from California State University, Dominguez Hills,[2] then completed a two-year master's degree in jazz performance in 2000 at the California Institute of the Arts[1][2] followed by studies at the Thelonious Monk Institute at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.

After playing around Los Angeles he moved to New York City in 2003.[1] He became trumpeter Nicholas Payton's keyboardist early the following year, and has been a regular member of trumpeter Tom Harrell's band since 2005.[2] Grissett released his first album as a leader in 2006, on the Criss Cross label, for whom he has continued to record.[1] Promise and his following album, Encounters, were trio recordings with Vicente Archer (bass) and Kendrick Scott (drums).[2] His next album, Form, from 2008, added saxophonist Seamus Blake, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, and trombonist Steve Davis to the trio.[2]

A Down Beat reviewer in 2010 commented that Grissett employed "strategies drawn from Mulgrew Miller, Herbie Hancock and Sonny Clark to tell cogent stories that carry his own harmonic and rhythmic signature."[2]

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

• Official website
• An extended analysis of a Grissett performance