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Gregg Gelb

Tenor and alto saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, educator, bandleader, Gregg Gelb has 20+ years of professional experience in jazz, swing, as well as classical music, and his solo performances and ensembles - the Gregg Gelb Jazz Quartet, the G

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April 19, 09 News and Observer, Raleigh, NC ”Gelb Makes it Swing” by Owen Cordle

Gig for gig, tenor saxophonist Gregg Gelb may have been the busiest jazz musician in central North Carolina for the last 20 years. As leader of the Gregg Gelb Swing Band, director of the Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra, a founding member of the NC Jazz Repertory Orchestra, a jazz educator, and leader of numerous ad-hoc small groups, Gelb is, by example, an advocate for the music.

With “Breakaway” (MG Records) , he cuts to the heart of his experience - a quartet blowing session with seven of his original compositions.

Most of the tunes are singable, and Gelb offers warm-toned improvisation on each. His solos balance lyricism and fluid double -time passages. His rhythmic feeling is straight-ahead and swinging.

“Summer Haze,'” the lone clarinet performance, conjures up an exotic mood similar to Benny Carter's “Key Largo.” “Big Change's Comin'” is the kind of swinging tune you can imagine the Count Basie Band playing. “Contemplation” is a fine ballad with sophisticated harmony.

Gelb's rhythm - pianist Steve Anderson, bassist Steve Haines and drummer Ben Jensen - proves itself tasteful and artful, with Anderson uncorking several variegated solos along the way.”

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From Jock to Jazz: Gregg Gelb by Lynn Veach Sadler

Saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, and bandleader Gregg Gelb grew up in