Hard Bop: For The Record Greg Chako

• 1 Mozambique 05:43
• 2 Second Chance 04:21
• 3 Ballad to the Bone 05:58
• 4 Soar With the Wind 05:46
• 5 Bop For Bud 07:10
• 6 Mr. Higgins 05:43
• 7 Time to Play 06:35
• 8 Mellow-Dee 07:33
• 9 April Wind 05:57
• 10 For the Record 05:22
• Total Runtime 01:00:08

Info zu Hard Bop: For The Record

Inspired by the hard bop tradition and featuring ten original compositions, Hard Bop – For the Record is one of Greg’s most personal and compositionally ambitious projects to date.

"I don’t think there’s any guitarist out there as prodigious as Greg Chako; this guy puts out fresh material faster than Dave Roberts pulls pitchers! He’s got a gorgeous tone, bluesy classic style and knows when and when not to play. Usually in trio or quartet form, Chako opens things up a bit by bringing in a pair of horns this time around in Brooks Giles/ts-ss and Spencer Merk/tb along with his working team of David Lloyd/b and Alex Merk/dr. He salutes hard boppers of the Blue Note days of yon, with the horns swinging, swaying and never over playing as they fill in the gaps.

Giles’ soprano is sweet and hip on a delightful “Mellow-Dee”, while his tenor croons on “Second Chance”. Merk lays down an irresistable groove on the tribute “Mr. Higgins” and the leader bounces for “Bop For Bud”, with the emphasis on comfort food grooves on “April Wind” and “Soar With The Wind”. A fresh coat of paint on a classic chassie." (George W. Harris, jazzweekly.com)

"That is what makes Greg Chako’s record worth spending time with. Beneath the hard bop vocabulary is a career shaped by movement, setbacks, reinvention, cultural encounters and a continuing desire to learn. The result is music that respects its history without surrendering its independence, and perhaps that is the most convincing way for a tradition as resilient as hard bop to remain alive in the 21st century." (Thierry De Clemensat, PARIS-MOVE)

Greg Chako, guitar
Brooks Giles, tenor & soprano saxophones
Spencer Merk, trombone
David Lloyd, bass
Alex Mark, drums

Greg Chako
In a pro career spanning 40 years and five countries, Cincinnati-born jazz guitarist Greg Chako has released ten albums and been the subject of a documentary called, “An American Cat in the Lion City.” His most prolific period to-date as a recording and performance artist occurred while he lived in the Far East for 17 years, where he evolved into a masterful, expressive composer with rich story telling abilities. His varied arrangements and 50+ recorded original compositions merge Mainstream, Hard Bop, Latin & World instrumental music.

American Jazz guitarist Greg Chako was a major force in the Singapore jazz scene around the turn of the 21st Century. He led the ‘House' Trio at Raffles' Bar & Billiard Room from 1995-2002.. He released four albums during that time: Live at Raffles, Sudden Impact, Integration & Integration II. He performed throughout the region. Notable shows included: Jazz in the Park, Chi-Jazz and Just Jazz Festivals, and the 2002 Heineken Jazz Festival in Kuala Lumpur.

After relocating to Japan in 2003, he visited Singapore frequently, recording three more albums at Lion Studios engineered by the late John Herbert. Those albums featured a wide variety of players from Singapore and were titled: Paint a Picture, Tell a Story, Where We Find Ourselves, and Everybody’s Got a Name. It’s clear that Chako’s professional career got it’s start in Singapore, and his return to the island after 20 years will be long awaited and much anticipated.

Three of the musicians participating on his records will be joining Greg for what could well be his final live performance in Singapore. They are: Christy Smith on bass, Mei Shuem on piano, and Greg Lyons on sax. Playing drums for this feature performance is a young titan of the modern Singapore scene, Ben Low.

The group will be playing songs from Greg's recorded works, including tracks from his newest 11th album, Friends, Old & New.

He can de-mystify complex musical concepts and facilitate students’ mastery of all the skills and knowledge necessary for them to develop their own personal “voice,” the ultimate goal of any artist or craftsman. He strives to teach you how to fish rather than merely feeding you a fish. As more than just one of his private students have said: “Greg has immense knowledge and knows how to simplify complex ideas into an easy-to understand language. His teaching style is down-to-earth.”

He has invested significant time into developing interpersonal relationships that are based on mutual respect, with awareness, sensitivity and tolerance for our differences. He has a “teacher’s heart,” that is, an innate ability to build rapport with students and lead them towards their highest potential. And importantly, he’s cognizant and grateful for the "two-way street" of communication which should exist between any student and teacher, as each collaborate on the learning process together. Nothing is more gratifying to him than to witness his students find their passion and exceed their initial expectations.

His formal education includes outstanding Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) work at The Eastman School of Music, a Masters of Music (M.M.), and a Bachelors of Arts (B.A.) with an interdisciplinary focus on the Music Business and Performance.

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet