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Side Hustle

Greg Rahn

Label: Harmony Pacific Records
Released: 2026
Duration: 00:04:43
Views: 37

Tracks

Chick Flick; Side Hustle; Jam Night; Chillin' At The Crawdaddy Lounge; Slap Yo Mama; Brand New Bad Idea; Songo Blues; Swamp Funk; Josie

Personnel

Additional Personnel / Information

Phil Hawkins: Mastering

Album Description

Greg Rahn

Side Hustle

While producing audio for the video game industry over a 25-year period, Bay Area keyboardist-composer Greg Rahn maintained a steady diet of playing live gigs as a side hustle. The lucrative gaming industry allowed him to raise his family, but the side hustle gigs kept him connected to the magic of making music with other musicians, the spontaneity of playing before live audiences and taking his honed keyboard chops out for spin in a dizzying array of styles and genres that are evident on this album.

Having been a fan of ‘70s fusion bands like Return To Forever, Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orchestra while also absorbing the lessons of influential keyboardist-composers like Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul and Jan Hammer, Rahn played “anything with a keyboard” in his formative years. Following a move to the Bay Area in 1981, he began freelancing and worked across many different genres from soul (singer Rosie Gaines who later went on to play with Prince) to Latin jazz (with guitarist Ray Obiedo and percussionist-bandleader Pete Escovedo) to rock (Ronnie Montrose) and blues (Chris Cain). Rahn also recently appeared as musical director for the Big Blues Bash! celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Concord Pavilion, where he backed such artists as Elvin Bishop, Tommy Castro, Ana Popovic and DK Harrell.

By the early ‘90s, new technology and the games industry came calling. “Teams of people were needed to handle audio, so suddenly there were legit jobs for sound people,” he recalled. “I ended up working for several different companies over the years - Brøderbund, Electronic Arts, Playdom/Disney, Kabam, Rocket Speed, Popcap and IWIN, to name a few.”

Another major discovery in the ‘90s was Mac Rebennack (aka Dr. John). Introduced to this quintessentially New Orleans style of piano playing through Mac’s Homespun Music Instruction video series, it opened a door to such foundational players as Professor Longhair and James Booker as well as disciples like Allen Toussaint, Huey “Piano” Smith and Jon Cleary. Rahn’s investigation of New Orleans piano music and his subsequent study of 1920s-1930s Harlem stride and boogie woogie piano, pioneered by James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Scott Joplin and Willie “The Lion” Smith, led to his 2021 solo piano recording, Rent Party, which features 10 Rahn originals as well as covers of Joe Zawinul’s “Birdland,” Jack Fina’s “Bumble Boogie” (a boogie-woogie variation on Rimsky-Korsakov's “Flight of the Bumblebee”) and Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag.”

Some of those piano playing influences, along with his early fusion leanings, come to fruition on his wildly eclectic second album Side Hustle. With a core group of former Steely Dan touring guitarist Drew Zingg, bassist Steve Evans, drummer Mick Mestek and percussionist Derek Rolando, Rahn tackles everything from New Orleans funk (“Chillin’ at the Crawdaddy Lounge”) to Louisiana zydeco (“Slap Yo Mama”), fiery fusion (“Chick Flick”), Cuban music (“Songo Blues”) and an infectious shuffle blues (“Side Hustle”), alternating between electric piano, organ, synthesizer and keytar along the way. He even tosses in a bit of melodica on an instrumental version of the Steely Dan classic, “Josie.”

Sadly, two key contributors to this project both passed in 2025 (bassist Evans on April 4, guitarist Zingg on April 10).

“This release carries more than just music, it carries memory,” said Rahn. “I’m especially grateful we captured these sessions when we did. Steve was a longtime friend who I worked with for years in Chris Cain’s blues band. He was a steady presence in my musical life. And though I’d only just met Drew, our connection was instant and unforgettable. I’m honored to have created with them both.”

The collection opens with the searing fusion track, “Chick Flick,” Rahn’s homage to Chick Corea. Inspired by Return To Forever’s 1976 album Romantic Warrior, it features tight interplay between Rahn’s keyboards and guitarist Frank Aresti’s Al Di Meola-esque distortion-laced fusillades on the intricate head. From the grand piano entrance to the flamenco-tinged theme to his keytar emulating a Mini-Moog solo, this one bears Corea’s distinctive stamp. “I was fortunate to meet Chick in the ‘70s and had a nice conversation with him,” said Rahn. “I told him I was considering going to college to study music and he recommended another path, which was to seek out teachers who have what you want to learn and study with them, and study whatever interests you, don’t limit yourself. So that’s what I did.”

The title track, a high-energy shuffle blues, has Rahn breaking out his Peter Frampton-esque talkbox (actually a Rocktron Banshee with external tubing inserted into the mouth to shape notes). With Mestek and Evans laying down a solid groove, the leader solos alternately on keytar (sounding remarkably like a guitar, a la Jan Hammer), organ and piano.

The funky “Jam Night” features some scintillating call-and-response exchanges between Zingg’s guitar and Rahn’s piano. Midway through, Mestek launches into a flurry on the kit before the leader returns to deliver a jazzy double-time synth solo while tossing in a quote from The Gap Band’s 1982 hit “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” along the way.

The blues-tinged, laid back “Chillin’ at the Crawdaddy Lounge” opens with some New Orleans flavored piano work by Rahn, underscored by Jeff Campitelli’s brushwork and Steve Evans’ low-end groove. “I added this as a respite from all the fire in the other tracks,” said Rahn. “It was our chance to take a break and slow down a little, relax and take it all in.”

Rahn’s undying love of Professor Longhair comes across loud and clear on “Slap Yo Mama.” As he said, “The stuff that ‘Fess brought to the table with that whole mambo tropical feel is just great. I just love the melting pot of cultures and communities that is New Orleans. That’s ‘Fess in a nutshell.” He layers on melodica to emulate zydeco accordion and adds sampled tuba and trombone to give it an authentic NOLA party-time brass band vibe.

“Brand New Bad Idea” morphs into a myriad of moods and colors, with the leader alternately soloing on electric piano, piano and keytar. Zingg contributes another ripping guitar solo early on before later engaging in some heated call-and-response with Rahn on keytar, with the two sounding like two chopsy six-stringers going toe-to-toe. Percussionist Rolando offers a smoking timbales solo midway through while Rahn’s wife Patricia and his daughter Katie contribute backing vocals on this meticulously crafted track. “That tune was inspired by Snarky Puppy,” said Rahn. “I was listening to them and thinking, ‘Man, these tunes really take you on a journey. They just go from here to here to here with all these interesting sections.’ So ‘Brand New Bad Idea’ is my answer to that.”

The infectious “Songo Blues” finds the leader on piano, playing a Cuban songo pattern over a blues progression. Think Richard Tee meets Los Van Van. A touch of that New Orleans piano tradition — something ever-present in Rahn’s toolkit — filters into the mix here. Zingg provides some funky rhythm guitar while the leader also provides an organ cushion underneath. And Alex Murzyn adds a potent sax solo to elevate the proceedings.

For “Swamp Funk,” Rahn recruited slide guitarist Danny Castro to wail over the top with distortion-laced abandon. “I had a demo of the tune where I mocked it all up with samplers and things, and I called on Danny to come and play it live. We went to Studio D in Sausalito and I really dug what he did, because he brought a real nice rawness to it, which I think helped the track.”

While the challenging head on “Swamp Funk,” played in intricate unisons with Tower of Power bassist Marc van Wageningen, may speak of Rahn’s love of fusion, the prevailing groove is deep and strictly in the pocket. “I loved playing with this texture,” he said.

“I fused together a Jamaican beat with funk rhythms and some jazz fusion melodies, then submerged it underwater. You can feel the humidity just dripping. Smell the stank!”

They close with the Walter Becker-Donald Fagen classic “Josie” from Steely Dan’s sophisticated and decidedly jazzy 1977 album, Aja. Rahn opens this instrumental version with melodica playing the familiar melody from that platinum-seller before deftly switching to synth, electric piano and piano on separate solos. Patricia and Katie Rahn once again provide distinctive backing vocals on this iconic number. “Their voices blend together in a really nice way and lend a beautiful quality that I really dug,” he noted. “And it’s pretty convenient having singers in the house when you need vocals.”

He added, “I grew up with Steely Dan music as a big part of the soundtrack of my life. I had a great time working out my arrangement for ‘Josie.’ And I intentionally arranged it with no guitar. Plus, I changed the groove and added a few surprises along the way.”

On Side Hustle, Rahn has taken all of the music that he’s assimilated over the decades, mixed it with a healthy dose of jazz and presented it in an appealing package. And by not confining himself to one lane, he takes the listener on an exhilarating, rewarding road trip.

“Every track becomes its own journey, its own emotional landscape. I hope each piece gives the listener room to feel something personal, something real.” — Bill Milkowski

Bill Milkowski is a longtime contributor to Downbeat and Absolute Sound magazines. He has also authored biographies on Jaco Pastorius, Pat Martino, Michael Brecker and Mike Clark. His blog “Musings on Music by The Milkman” is on Substack and can also be read on his website (billmilkowski.com)