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GREG ABATE QUARTET FEATURING
Eric Gunnison, Mark Simon and Todd Reid
Greg Abate (saxophonist / flutist / composer / arranger)
When you think of the saxophone, think of Greg Abate. Greg is widely considered among jazz writers and aficionados to be one of the best post-bebop alto players out there today. He is high art.
In the early '70s, Greg did a two-year stint playing lead alto with the Ray Charles Orchestra. For another two years in the mid '80s, he held the jazz tenor chair in the revived Artie Shaw Orchestra under the direction of Dick Johnson. Now Greg is doing his thing--bop. Greg performs throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. His music receives playtime on radio all over the country. An accomplished composer and arranger, Abate has a very creative notion of where jazz ought to be.
He is also a jazz educator. Greg is Adjunct Instructor of Jazz at Rhode Island College in Providence, where he teaches jazz improvisation and jazz theory and coaches jazz combos. He is a Selmer clinician, conducting clinics and workshops internationally, working with students from middle schools to colleges, and performing with them and their teachers.
Having attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Greg is listed among the school’s prominent alumni. He has eleven albums as a leader to his credit; all are critically acclaimed. He currently resides in Coventry, Rhode Island.
Greg is a very emotional player. He plays lyrical and swings hard. He loves to play. He plays freewheeling and structured, sweet and throaty, bright and blue – with passion.
--Peter DeVeber