Jazz Articles about Brooks Giles III

About Brooks Giles III

Album Review

Greg Chako: Hard Bop for the Record

Read "Hard Bop for the Record" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 11, 2026

If the name Greg Chako is unfamiliar to you, perhaps it is because the veteran Cincinnati-bred guitarist, composer, and arranger has spent much of his career performing and recording in Asia, including years abroad in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Japan. After recovering from a near-fatal case of sepsis, Chako took full advantage of his new lease on life, returning home to lead a piano-less quintet on Hard Bop for the Record, whose second track, “Second Chance," salutes ...

Album Review

Greg Chako: Friends, Old & New

Read "Friends, Old & New" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
November 16, 2022

Guitarist Greg Chako has always considered himself a composer and arranger first and foremost over his abilities as a player. After a long chapter in his life where he performed and produced music in Asia, his return to the states and coming back home to Cincinnati, has energized the guitarist and filled him with a new sense of purpose, resuming his prolific music career by signing with a new label (Mint 400 Records), re-releasing previously produced recordings and finally presenting ...