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Greg Chako

Cincinnati-born jazz guitarist Greg Chako took his first music lessons at the age of 9 on the accordion. With Hendrix as an admired hero, guitar then became his primary focus; and after just 1 year of guitar lessons, Greg won 2nd place among more than 1,000 contestants in the American Guild of Music competition. The following year, he placed first in a local contest, and later attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he made the Dean’s list and earned an associates degree in Music Performance.

Anxious to experience life outside of school, he played with top artists like Junior Cook, Bill Hardman, Othello Molineaux, Johnny Lytle, Bobby Watson, Herb Ellis, Jimmy Raney, and others. He also gained “hands-on” experience as a promoter and organizer, running an ongoing jazz program in Cincinnati that featured both local and internationally recognized jazz artists. In Amherst, Massachusetts, he founded a non-profit Jazz Society and launched its inception with an outdoors festival featuring Slide Hampton and “Dr. Jazz” Ray Copeland. His efforts to promote jazz won him a grant from the Massachusetts State Council of the Arts, with which he featured famous African-American jazz artists from the New England area in a concert series. He formalized these promotional activities under the name Chako Productions, thereby starting a career of arts administration and music business that coincided alongside his performing.

Although Greg has always been a jazz lover and prolific arts promoter, his music career was not always consistent. In the late-1980’s, Greg even quit playing guitar for several years, while he pursued a lucrative stint selling industrial real estate in New York City. He also suffered numerous setbacks from health issues like Carpal-Tunnel Syndrome and bone spurs in his neck that interrupted his regular playing.

However in 1992, Greg moved to Hong Kong and resumed his professional performing and promoting career. He played in Broadway musicals including West Side Story; concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra; in jazz clubs with jazz greats Curtis Fuller and Richie Cole; and booked and performed regular concert series for top-tier clients including The Oriental, Hong Kong, where in 1994, he recorded his first CD, Everything I Love, The Greg Chako Trio Live at the Captain’s Bar.

In 1994, Greg moved to Singapore and incorporated his entertainment business, Chako Productions Pte. Ltd. In less than 2 years, the company was generating around one million Singapore dollars in annual turnover and employing between 20 and 30 musicians full-time, with Greg managing its daily affairs as General Manager.

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5
Album Review

Greg Chako Trio: Life After 40

Read "Life After 40" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Cincinnati-born jazz guitarist and international recording artist Greg Chako wears many hats including composer, arranger, educator and band leader. Chako has forged an extraordinary career spanning over thirty-five years in which he has recorded sixteen albums. Life After 40 is a follow-up to previous studio recordings Friends, Old & New (Mint 400 Records 2022) and A Place for Bass-Chamber Jazz Duets (Mint 400 Records 2022) marking a new chapter in his life, recording in the US after his return from ...

13
Album Review

Greg Chako: Friends, Old & New

Read "Friends, Old & New" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Guitarist Greg Chako has always considered himself a composer and arranger first and foremost over his abilities as a player. After a long chapter in his life where he performed and produced music in Asia, his return to the states and coming back home to Cincinnati, has energized the guitarist and filled him with a new sense of purpose, resuming his prolific music career by signing with a new label (Mint 400 Records), re-releasing previously produced recordings and finally presenting ...

4
Album Review

Greg Chako: Sudden Impact

Read "Sudden Impact" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Cincinnati-based guitarist Greg Chako spent many years in Asia, living and performing in various countries including Japan, China and Singapore. He produced several albums during his time abroad, assembling a discography that has not been readily available to American jazz fans. Sudden Impact, originally released in 1996, is the first of several re-releases on the Mint 400 Records label designed to expose Chako's music to a wider audience. Staying within the straight-ahead tradition, the album presents seven re-imagined versions of ...

144
Album Review

Greg Chako: Everybody's Got A Name

Read "Everybody's Got A Name" reviewed by Michael P. Gladstone


Guitarist/composer/bandleader Greg Chako has recorded in varied venues and formats—performing in duet, trio and here in quartet. Paint A Picture, Tell A Story (CPB, 2007) even made use of marquee names Don Byron and Delfeayo Marsalis. It remains a mystery why he hasn't achieved wider acclaim and better gigs. Perhaps the use of a creative album cover could make a difference.Chako and the members of his quartet make use of classic jazz album covers in which the fonts, ...

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Extended Analysis

Everybody's Got A Name

Read "Everybody's Got A Name" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Greg Chako Everybody's Got A Name Self Published 2008

Guitarist and composer Greg Chako is the consummate musician who, despite personal hardships in his life, dedicates himself to the art of jazz with every fiber of his being, producing one fine album after another. Everybody's Got a Name is his ninth album overall, and fourth in a little over a two-year period. The music contained in his previous releases explored the expressive ...

152
Album Review

Greg Chako: Paint A Picture, Tell A Story

Read "Paint A Picture, Tell A Story" reviewed by Michael P. Gladstone


Perhaps reviewing guitarist Greg Chako's Where We Find Ourselves (CPB, 2006) and Two's Company, Three's A Crowd Jazz Duets (CPB, 2006), explains why his adventures, both musical and otherwise, remain amazing.

From Boston's Berklee College of Music, Chako relocated to New York, where he discovered his talent for culinary arts. In Amherst, Massachusetts, working as a chef, Chako found that he had talent as a jazz promoter of concerts and festivals, which also gave him access ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Greg Chako

Read "Take Five With Greg Chako" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Meet Greg Chako: USA born, Greg distinguished himself early on as an exceptional guitarist by placing second in the American Guild of Music Competition at age 11. After receiving formal education at Berklee Collage of Music in Boston, he began performing and promoting jazz, including appearances with leading artists. He has overcome many obstacles in life, like a physical disability of the wrist called carpal-tunnel syndrome, divorce, and the sudden death of his second wife due to breast ...

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1

Recording

Guitarist/Composer Greg Chako Trio New Release 'Standard Roots' On May 3, 2024

Guitarist/Composer Greg Chako Trio New Release 'Standard Roots' On May 3, 2024

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

Guitarist Greg Chako’s 17th CD, Standard Roots, contains over 72 minutes of music, with an additional 23+ minutes of music included in the 4 ‘bonus tracks’ on the digital version of the album. The album represents a return to what Greg calls his “roots,” because it features the trio format of guitar, bass, and drums that he began his professional playing career with over 30 years ago. Additionally, Greg says: “I treasure my own song-writing above all else, but I ...

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Recording

Greg Chako And Mason Daugherty Double The Bass For Album Of Duets

Greg Chako And Mason Daugherty Double The Bass For Album Of Duets

Source: Christine King

With a professional music career that has logged 35 years of work, composer/guitarist Greg Chako still hasn't achieved the mainstream recognition that he deserves. His latest album, A Place for Bass—Chamber Jazz Duets, continues to showcase his artistry and, in this project, his versatility as well. After all, Chako leaves his guitar in its case in this continuously engaging and spirited effort. Instead, he and Mason Daugherty display their bass-playing skills. However, they're not competing with one another. A Place ...

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Recording

Guitarist Greg Chako 'Friends, Old And New' Release Date: October 14th With Brazilian Flair!

Guitarist Greg Chako 'Friends, Old And New' Release Date: October 14th With Brazilian Flair!

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

A Cincinnati-born leader who's recorded in Singapore, with Australian and American players all living in Japan, playing all-original Latin-American Jazz—a truly unique sound! His travels have brought him many friends, old and new! Friends, Old and New Release Date: October 14th Label: Mint 400 Records & Raining Music “Recalls those exciting hard blowing sessions of the 1960’s which featured Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, and Jackie McLean... with an effective mix of hard bop and Latin rhythms guaranteed to ...

“ …old standbys get spiced up with latin rhythms, experiencing sudden ubiquity and fresh sound… The originals have a contemporary sound, colored with understated funk and backbeats, and girded with interesting structures… He uses his thumb to execute winningly lyrical lines made up of pillow-like notes…” – Cadence Magazine, USA “ …warm guitar, gently flowing lines and occasional bursts of lush chords, Greg favors the use of his thumb to produce the rich sound he achieves… The music swings compulsively at times… The leader’s exotic sound and constantly inventive lines, the mainstream appeal of familiar material being given a refreshing twist, and a driving rhythm section” – Jazz Journal, England “Everything about this CD from the choice of material to the sensitive support, oozes class… His tone is warm, yet incisive… Unusually bright post bebop style, and all octaves are handled authoritatively… a wonderful showcase for Chako.” – Just Jazz Guitar, USA “Warm, sensitive uncluttered lines that make for excellent rewinding… Like Tai Chi Masters, Chako et al prove again that beauty lies in control and grace, not excess and discord.” – Big O Magazine, Singapore

Charlie Christian
guitar, electric
John Coltrane
saxophone
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto
Lester Young
saxophone
Jimi Hendrix
guitar, electric

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Standard Roots

Mint 400 Records
2024

buy

Greg Chako - Tokyo...

Mint 400 Records
2023

buy

A Place for Bass -...

Self Produced
2023

buy

Life After 40

Mint 400 Records
2023

buy

Sudden Impact

Mint 400 Records
2022

buy

Friends, Old & New

Mint 400 Records & Raining Music
2022

buy

Just Friends

From: Standard Roots
By Greg Chako

Samba Summer

From: Friends, Old & New
By Greg Chako

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