Gregg Karukas

Gregg Karukas - © Ken Weil

born on 18/5/1961 in Washington, DC, MD, United States

Gregg Karukas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Gregory Harry "Gregg" Karukas (born May 18, 1956) is a Grammy-winning smooth jazz keyboardist, producer, composer and pianist, originally from the Washington, D.C.–Bowie, Maryland area. He experimented with drums, guitar, trumpet and keyboards as a child, but it was not until his teens that he pursued music professionally as a pianist, having played with the award winning Bowie High School Starliners big band.[1]

He was an early synthesizer proponent at age 16, owning one of the first Minimoogs and co-founded the fusion group East Coast Offering with former Air Force Airmen of Note saxophonist Tim Eyermann, becoming DC's top original jazz/rock band. He then went on to form Natural Bridge with Shannon Ford, Carl Cable and Wink Robinson; later members included Michael Manring, Gerry Kunkel, Joe Dougherty and Steve Bloom on percussion. Gradually, since moving to Los Angeles in 1982 he developed a melodic and soulful style of music that made him a mainstay on smooth jazz and radio circuit.

Gregg has received multiple Best Keyboardist nominations at the Oasis and National Smooth Jazz Awards. Two of his best-known singles, "Girl in the Red Dress" and "Nightshift", reflect a style familiar to his fans. Karukas has collaborated with Brazilian composer Dori Caymmi and Ricardo Silveira on several projects and produced, arranged, engineered and co-wrote 2 CDs with Omar Akram, whose Echoes of Love CD won the Grammy for Best New Age Album in 2013.[1] Gregg also co-wrote sax star Jessy J.'s #1 hit "Tropical Rain". Gregg was an original member of the Rippingtons, recording their 1987 Moonlighting CD and he has toured through the years with Boney James, Sergio Mendes, Melissa Manchester and Larry Carlton. Gregg continues to record and tour the world with Peter White and Rick Braun and was Musical Director for the Dave Koz and Friends Cruise to Europe, 2011–2013 featuring international stars such as Michael Bolton, Shelia E., Michael McDonald, and Jeffrey Osborne.

Gregg owns and distributes most of his music on his Nightowl Records Label.

He has a wife named Yvonne and two sons named Stevie and Alex. Stevie is a drummer, and Alex is an actor, singer, songwriter, and musician.

Studio Albums

Title Year Label
The Night Owl 1987 Optimism / now Nightowl
Key Witness 1990, 1998 Positive / now Nightowl
Sound of Emotion 1992, 1998 Positive / now Nightowl
Summerhouse 1993, 1998 Positive / now Nightowl
Home for the Holidays 1993 Fahrenheit / now Nightowl
You'll Know It's Me 1995 Fahrenheit / now Nightowl
Blue Touch 1998 i.e./Polygram
Nightshift 2000 N2K
Heatwave 2002 N-Coded/Warlock
Gregg Karukas (Best of, Japanese Only) 2004 MK Music
Looking Up 2005 Trippin 'N' Rhythm / now Nightowl
GK 2009 Trippin 'N' Rhythm
Soul Secrets 2014 Nightowl

References

  1. ^ a b Jaskot, Colleen (February 27, 2013). "Grammy winner Gregg Karukas returns for DC show". baltimoresun.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013. 
  • Gregg Karukas bio, Yahoo! Music.
  • Gregg Karukas on MusicMatch Guide.

External links

  • Official website


This page was last modified 26.03.2018 02:18:17

This article uses material from the article Gregg Karukas from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.