Gregg Karukas

Gregg Karukas，来自于华盛顿特区，擅长爵士钢琴，而作为现代爵士乐手，爵士电钢琴是他的看家法宝。他曾和很多当代知名爵士名家合作过，如：Boney James, Dave Koz,Richard Elliot, Russ Freeman, Ronnie Laws, David Benoit, Rick Braun。从70年代开始，他已经参与作曲，到了83年，他搬去洛山矶以后，已经成为一个多产的作曲家。 by Scott Yanow A talented keyboardist who has mostly worked in the commercial side of jazz, Gregg Karukas has the potential for stardom. Although he noodled on the piano from age six, he did not start studying music seriously until he was a teenager. Karukas often played organ in r&b bands early on and at 17 he began a five year stint with Tim Eyermanns East Coast Offering. After a period working as a studio musician in D.C., he moved to Los Angeles in 1983 where he became a major part of the pop jazz scene, playing with (among others) Richard Elliot, Grant Geissman, Ronnie Laws and David Benoit. Karukas worked for a year-and-a-half with Melissa Manchester, had a band that featured the young saxophonist Dave Koz and in the mid-1980s he became an original member of the Rippingtons. In addition to his crossover work, Karukas has gained extensive experience playing Brazilian music including with Ricardo Silveira, Sergio Mendes and Dori Caymmi, worked as a freelance producer, been a sideman on albums by Boney James, Peter White and Craig Chaquico, worked as a studio musician and written songs for a variety of r&b/pop artists. As a leader, Gregg Karukas has recorded for Nightowl (1987), Positive Music, Fahrenheit, I.E. Music and N-Coded Music (2000).