Marcus Gerakos

I started playing the guitar when I was fourteen, learning songs from records. One of my big inspirations was Al Di Meola--the first piece I ever learned was his recording of "Sarabande from Violin Sonata in B Minor" by J.S. Bach. Then I tackled Al's "Medterranean Sundance" and "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" (both from the album "Elegant Gypsy"). Needless to say, I had a tougher time with those! I also learned songs from "More Brazilian Byrd" featuring the guitar of Charlie Byrd, one of my all-time favorites. Also, I began learning some of the classical repertoire around this time, like the Prelude for Lute, originally in C minor and later transposed to D minor for the guitar by Andres Segovia, the father of modern classical guitar. I studied music at UCLA, graduating in 1990. This was a great experience for me. Studying classical guitar with Peter Yates and Ted Norman was invaluable in my musical development. I also played in UCLA's jazz ensemble and their Latin music ensemble, UCLAtino. This was my introduction to the essentials of Afro-Cuban music--the clave, the tumbao, the instrumentation, the arrangements--not to mention the fun you could have playing this music in front of a live audience! While I was there I had the opportunity to play with musicians I admired and respected, like the great Poncho Sanchez, trumpeters Bobby Shew and Allan Vizzutti, and the legendary composer/arranger Clare Fischer. Since then I've had the good fortune of collaborating with musicians whose work and lives I really admire--Alex Acuna, world-renowned percussionist and drummer, who's been a friend and mentor for the last seven years, and and with whom I've enjoyed working on everything from TV commercials, live concerts, and my own records. Another is Grammy award-winning Latin pop superstar Obie Bermudez, with whom I performed at a filled-beyond-capacity Key Club in Hollywood. A very humble and personable guy, a fellow guitarist, and a pleasure to work with. And Avion Blackman, who invited me to play on her gospel reggae debut album, "Onyinye", produced by her husband Mark Mohr from Christafari. The album wound up winning the coveted Marlin Award (the Caribbean equivalent of the Grammy) for Album of the Year. It couldn't have happened to two nicer people. Abraham Laboriel, perhaps the most-recorded electric bassist in history, who taught me that music is either all or nothing--always give 110 percent whether you're on stage, in the studio, in rehearsal or just practicing around the house. And Eddie Resto, bassist with virtually everyone you can name in Latin music--Celia Cruz, Mongo Santamaria, Eddie Palmieri, Giovanni Hidalgo. Eddie's one of the most colorful characters in my life, always with a great joke and a great story to tell, and always a loyal friend. I'd say right now I'm at a place where I'm enjoying music more than ever. I see music as a way to say things that would be very difficult to say any other way.