Gregg Karukas

Gregg Karukas，來自於華盛頓特區，擅長爵士鋼琴，而作為現代爵士樂手，爵士電鋼琴是他的看家法寶。他曾和很多當代知名爵士名家合作過，如：Boney James, Dave Koz,Richard Elliot, Russ Freeman, Ronnie Laws, David Benoit, Rick Braun。從70年代開始，他已經參與作曲，到了83年，他搬去洛山磯以後，已經成為一個多產的作曲家。 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).