Danny Gottlieb is one of the most popular drummers in jazz and contemporary music. While best known as a founding member of the original Pat Metheny Group, Danny, during the past 40 years, has recorded or performed with Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin, Gil Evans, Sting, John Mclaughlin, Gary Burton, Al Di Meola, Larry Coryell, David Byrne, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, The Manhattan Transfer, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Clark Terry, The Blues Brothers Band featuring Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd, Booker T and The MG’s, Bobby Rydell, Michael Franks, Maria Schneider, Dr. John, Bernie Williams, Jeff Berlin, Mark Egan, Muriel Anderson, and many more. Danny has been featured on over 400 recordings to date, including 4 Grammy Award Winners. Danny met Gary while performing with his wife, Beth, at the EPCOT Candlelight Orchestra at Walt Disney World, and has been a member of the LTDB since 2004.
In addition to his performing and recording career, Danny is a tenured Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of North Florida, in Jacksonville. An avid music collector and researcher, Danny recently received a UNF Foundation grant to partner with the Carpenter Library in creating a UNF jazz archive. The archive will feature the collections of founder Rich Matteson, Professor Emertis Bunky Green, and more than 315 live New York Jazz concerts produced by Jack Kleinsinger (digitalcommons.unf.edu)
In 2011, Danny released his bestselling “Evolution of Jazz Drumming” workbook (Hudson Music/ Hal Leonard) which has received world wide acclaim and is one of Amazon’s top selling percussion books. Danny is also featured in an educational dvd produced by True Fire (Jazz Drumming Masterclass), 10 instructional drum DVD’s for the Mel Bay Company, including 3 with his teacher, jazz legend Joe Morello (Dave Brubeck). He has also co-authored two drumming texts with Nashville based drummer Michael Green (Mel Bay).

Danny explains: “From both a musical and personal standpoint, playing with the Lt. Dan Band has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. Gary is one of the most talented and amazing people on the planet, and the experience of playing music to help people in need, raising money and supporting great causes-it’s changed the way I look at everything! When you see a community coming together in support of a local hero, it feels like you are part of something that is really making a difference. And I love and admire everyone in this band. We’re a great bunch of friends, and what a talented group of musicians! And Gary, as a bass player, is a great rhythm section partner who, as with his acting, has a great sense of artistry, organization and orchestration.
From a drumming standpoint, I have always loved playing every style of music, and playing in the LTDB is very challenging. We play well over two hours, all classic songs by some of the word’s greatest popular musicians, and each song must be played with the correct stylistic approach and intensity of the original band. When we play an “Earth Wind and Fire” tune, I am trying to play with the intensity and feel of Sonny Emory. When we play Baba O’Riley, I am trying to have the intensity of Keith Moon. It’s not such an easy task, being that my forte is playing jazz and trying to sound different each time I play! And to play and share it all, with my wife, Beth, is the greatest gift of all. We are great partners, musically and in life, and we get to add our collective intensity to the mix”.
Danny and Beth also perform many concerts and clinics around the world as the "Gottlieb duo". They have performed in Norway, The UK, Denmark, Latvia and Switzerland. In June of 2013, they were featured in workshops and concerts in the Italian Music Conservatory of Pescara. They also continue to perform seasonally with the Epcot Candlelight Orchestra at Walt Disney World.
Danny holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Miami, and has studied with Joe Morello, Gary Chester, Mel Lewis, Bob Moses, Ed Soph, and Jack DeJohnette. Danny plays Zildjian Cymbals, Remo Drum Heads, Hot Sticks, Eames Drum Shells, Mark Electronic Drums, Regal Tip Brushes, Hammerax Percussion, DW Drums and Hardware, Alternate Mode (Kat) Products, Shure Microphones and LP Percussion.
Danny has been on the covers of Modern Drummer, Downbeat, and Rhythm magazines, and in 2012, the covers of Strumenti Musicali (Italy), Electronic Drummer, Bergish Gladbach Magazine (Germany), and in 2013, an entertainment journal in Finland. He currently writes a monthly "Jazz Practice Pad" article for DRUM! magazine, and contributed an interview CD in the recent edition of Gary Chester’s classic drum book, “The New Breed”. He also contributed an article for the re-release of one of the great drum methods of all time, George Lawrence Stone’s “Accents and Rebounds” (stonepercussionbooks.com)