APPEARED WITH OR COLLABORATED WITH: Maceo Parker, The John Scofield Quartet, Charlie Hunter, Galactic's Stanton Moore, G Love & Special Sauce, Ani DiFranco, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Stanley Jordan, The String Cheese Incident, The Slip, Antibalas, KRS-One, Ozomatli and Slick Rick, Eric Roberson, Phat Kat, The Motet, Members of Soulive, Future Jazz Project, The Break Mechanics and others......Recently relocated to Los Angeles, California, Greg spent eight years in Colorado's Denver/Boulder area and built himself quite a resume and reputation. The first year and a half was spent traveling the state with (recent) Dirty Dozen Brass Band guitarist, Jamie McLean, and their band, One Flight Up, opening for the likes of Maceo Parker and The John Scofield Quartet. OFU also produced a studio EP as well as a live EP, both featuring Greg’s compositions.
After One Flight Up disbanded and McLean was picked up by the Dozen, Greg found himself in the studio recording with front range guitar guru, Ross Martin. Following the recording of Martin’s album “Volley,†Greg was offered the keyboardist chair with nationally renowned touring act, The Motet, led by Boulder drumming celebrity, Dave Watts.
From 2001 – 2004, he toured the U.S. with The Motet, meeting and playing with the likes of Charlie Hunter, Galactic, G Love & Special Sauce, Stanley Jordan, The String Cheese Incident, The Slip, Antibalas and others. Greg’s work with The Motet is reflected in appearances and writing credits on two albums – “Live†and “Music for Life.â€
For the past 3 years, Greg focused his talents on building a local reputation with Denver-based outfits, The Break Mechanics and Future Jazz Project. The Break Mechanics, which features drummer Daren Hahn of The Ani DiFranco Group and Melissa Ferick Group, recorded their first album “Zen Zen†in late 2003 and it was released in the summer of 2004. In addition to a track that showcases DiFranco, this album features three more compositions by Greg as well as co-writing credits. The Break Mechanics have appeared with hip hop celebrities like KRS-One, Ozomatli and Slick Rick.
Future Jazz Project has also produced and released an album, "True By Design," which features 3 tunes written by Greg and was released in December '06. In addition to headlining venues across Colorado, Future Jazz Project has had the opportunity to back up (act as the live band) featured artists as they perform in Denver. Artists like Eric Roberson, who's worked with Will Smith, Jill Scott, Yin Yang Twins and Musiq Soulchild to name a few as well as artists like Phat Kat who's worked with Jay Dilla, Madlib, Dabrye, M.E.D. and others.
In addition to these projects, Greg was also the musical director for his Tuesday night neo-soul/R&B outfit, Dragonfly. For over three years at Appaloossa Bar & Grill in downtown Denver he has been part of this five-piece act with Future Jazz Project drummer Dameion Hines, Motet bassist Garrett Sayers, Future Jazz vocalist Selina Albright and Motet vocalist Jans Ingber. This band features original material composed and arranged by Greg.
Greg has also dicovered the incredible world of teaching. He's had great success teaching students privately (for 5 years) and at Denver Music Institute for the last year and a half, focusing on beginners and intermediates ages 5 – 65. Even former Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer frequented the Dragonfly shows and asked Greg for lessons.
Since moving to Los Angeles, Greg has incrementally been building a new local resume. Most of his time is spent teaching kids as young as 2 years old how to play piano, using group class methods as well as solfege singing techniques. He also teaches over 30 private students per week ages 5 - 50.
Every Wednesday you'll find Greg performing with local funk and soul outfit House of Vibe (HOV) at Harvelle's in Santa Monica. HOV features plenty of original compositions, plenty of improvisation, as well as some choice covers from Donny Hathaway, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. You could think of it as "The Roots + Donny Hathaway + Gil Scott Heron = HOV". House of Vibe also recently backed up Chali 2na (of Jurassic 5 and Ozamatli fame) on a mini-tour through Colorado and Minnesota. Other members of HOV have also worked with the likes of Talib Kweli, The Untouchables, Snoop Dog and many others.
For all of the latest information on all of Greg’s latest endeavors and upcoming performances, please visit the calendar above.---Discover the power of the arts!
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