Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Chako.
Hi Greg, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I took my first music lessons when I was 9, and won 2nd prize in the National American Guild of Music competition which took place in Cincinnati in 1969, when I was only 11 years old. I played and taught guitar as a teenager in Cincy before attending Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 1976, where I completed a 2-year certificate. I then moved to New York to live with my Dad in Long Island. That move began a long trend of my moving around a lot and being in and out of music professionally. There were multiple periods of my life when I did something else (besides music) for a living, such as selling industrial real estate in New York City, becoming a professional cook, and teaching English as a Second Language in Japan.
Up until todays times, my most prolific musical period occurred after a move to the Far East in 1992. I spent close to 20 years living and playing music in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, and finally in Japan, where I also taught English for Berlitz Language School. During those years abroad, I established myself as a successful music entrepreneur, bandleader, composer and recording artist. I incorporated my company, Chako Productions, in 1994 in Singapore. I played as many as 300 shows (or more) a year, recorded and self-produced 9 critically-acclaimed albums, performed in festivals and on TV, and my company was making over 1 million Singapore dollars in annual turnover.
Though professionally I was thriving, personally I suffered through two major setbacks. The first was my divorce in Singapore from my wife of 14 years (married in Massachusetts). That left me alone in Singapore. I eventually remarried a Japanese woman and when she contracted 4th-stage breast cancer in our 3rd year of marriage, that began a year-long losing battle with cancer. She passed on the anniversary of our 4th year together and I was alone again, this time in Japan.
After her death, I busied myself with teaching ESL full-time until eventually I had enough playing gigs to cut back my teaching hours. Then, in 2009 I came back to the USA to attend Graduate school when I was 50 years old. I completed a Masters of Music (MM) at William Paterson University in New Jersey, then completed the coursework for my Doctorate degree (DMA) at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. I returned to my hometown of Cincinnati in 2017 to be closer to my Mother, whose health was questionable. My Mom passed away due to complications from COVID in 2020.
Though I worked initially as a pizza delivery guy for LaRosa’s, and a store manager for DHR Guitar in Oakley when I first returned to Cincy, eventually I got a guitar teaching job and began gigging. I taught for 3+ years at the Oxford Music Academy in Oxford, Ohio. Notable performances included the Jamey Aebersold/Lexington Public Library concert series with my Unity Quartet; Jazz at Memorial Hall with a show titled, “Jazz: The American Music of Freedom, a Tribute to MLK;” Festival showcases in Kentucky at Worldfest and The Harrodsburg Jazz Festival with The Brooks Giles Band; and many performances at clubs and for private events in the Greater Cincinnati and Tri-State area leading groups.
In 2022 I was signed by a record label called MINT400 Records out of the NYC area, and that began a prolific recording career in Cincinnati which has even surpassed my recording success in Asia. Starting in late 2022 and up to the present, I have released 9 brand new albums, 2-compilation albums, and re-released 6 albums from my older catalogue. I have also performed on and was the Executive Producer for two albums from students of mine: The Vocal Stylings of Al West Jr. featuring the Greg Chako Trio, and David & the HeartStrings. My 23rd album as a leader, an all-Xmas one, is coming out this winter, and my 24th is a Hard-Bop Quintet of all-originals we’re rehearsing right now. and hoping to begin tracking this winter.
I’m teaching and gigging regularly, and can be seen and heard most weeks at The Symphony Hotel and Sorrento’s Italian Joint in Norwood. I perform and organize the music for a wide range of private and corporate events as well, and the URL I own and am branding for those types of musical services is: CincyJazzman.com. I was honored to be inducted in the Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame in June this year, and I’m told it was the best induction ceremony to-date! My love of music and sense of purpose keeps my flame alive to share this music I love with as many people as can. My primary goal is as a communicator, to touch people’s emotions.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it has not been smooth. I have experienced ALL of THE most stressful struggles of all: Loss of a loved one; Loss of Job; Loss of Income; Relocation: Living in a foreign country in which English is not commonly spoken; Having to start all over in a new place; Divorce; Widowed; Separated from a loved one; Had to put down my beloved Golden Retriever; Aloneness; Drug Abuse; Poverty.
An artist like me is not content unless he’s working all the time. One of the best periods of my life was when I was working nightly in Singapore, and happily married to my Japanese wife, living in what I still consider to be a tropical paradise! There have been periods like that in my life, however, so far at least, they have not persisted for long enough. Where I am today is the healthiest I have ever felt since returning to Cincinnati in 2017. And the reason for that is, I believe, that I have made the decision to do only music for a living, and I am performing and recording and composing more now than ever before – music fills me up – it’s my therapy if you like!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As far as my company is concerned, my specialty is to provide and create the perfect ambience with music; to strive to exceed all customer and client expectations; to make a positive emotive impact on listeners, to move people. I am known for doing just that. I am honest to a fault, and every time I perform, I give of myself 100%. I pride myself on the personal qualities of discernment and empathy, and of my willingness and openness to meet people where they are at, without any undue judgement passed. I pride myself to be an artist whose head is not “in the clouds,” but rather, is down-to-earth and relatable.
The goal of any true artist is to find themselves, to develop their own uniqueness based on the traditions already set forth; to “sit on the shoulders of giants” as it were … What sets me apart are these personal qualities and the development I have made towards obtaining my own distinct musical style. When one has his or her own style, that person is not left wanting for anything else. As someone once said, your only job is to be yourself, because in fact, all the other jobs are already taken!
What makes you happy?
Playing music, putting a smile on someone’s face, seeing children dance to my music, Nature, good conversation, cooking, making records, making other people happy! Oh … and though it’s not supposed to happen for my health reasons … eating great ice cream!
Pricing:
- visit www.CincyJazzman.com
- visit my websites “Contact” page
Contact Info:
- Website:
- Event management: www.CincyJazzman.com
- Greg Chako Artist website: www.gregchako.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregchakomusic/
- Facebook:
- Business: https://www.facebook.com/gregchakomusic/
- Personal: https://www.facebook.com/greg.chako/
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/greg-jazzman-chako-24459412
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tigerchako
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gregchako/albums
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/01EDhAC6p051MLtU9SWyrU
