Updated: August 9, 2025
Born: June 12, 1958
Greg Chako – Jazz Guitarist, Composer, and Bandleader
Cincinnati-born guitarist Greg Chako has spent over four decades performing, recording, and promoting jazz across the globe. A Berklee College of Music graduate, Chako has played with legends including Junior Cook, Curtis Fuller, Richie Cole, Herb Ellis, Jimmy Raney, and Delfeayo Marsalis. His career has taken him from the jazz clubs of Hong Kong and Singapore to festivals and concert halls throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States.
As a bandleader, Chako has released many acclaimed live and studio albums, ranging from swinging trios to horn-driven ensembles and intricate solo guitar works. His recordings — praised for their warm tone, lyrical phrasing, and inventive arrangements — have earned spots on the JazzWeek, CMJ, and RMR charts. Critics have described his playing as “muscular sound wrapped in gloves of velvet” (Jazz Journal) and “a wonderful showcase” (Just Jazz Guitar).
In addition to his work on stage and in the studio, Chako has built a career as an educator, arts administrator, and cultural ambassador, founding jazz festivals, leading international bands, and mentoring young musicians. His latest release, Comfort Food (2025), pairs him with organist Wayne Yeager and drummer Todd Remmy for a soulful, groove-rich set of standards and originals.
Tags
All About Jazz Articles
Greg Chako: Standard Roots
by Edward Blanco
Cincinnati-based veteran jazz guitarist and composer Greg Chako presents his 17th album as leader with the light and tender Standard Roots, returning to his musical foundation of performing in the guitar trio format as he joins forces, once again, with two stalwart players of the Cincinnati jazz scene, bassist Mason Daugherty and drummer Michael Meloy. An international recording artist, with a major portion of his discography having been released throughout Asia, Japan and Singapore, Chako has always drawn on his ...
Continue ReadingGreg Chako Trio: Life After 40
by Edward Blanco
Cincinnati-born jazz guitarist and international recording artist Greg Chako wears many hats including composer, arranger, educator and band leader. Chako has forged an extraordinary career spanning over thirty-five years in which he has recorded sixteen albums. Life After 40 is a follow-up to previous studio recordings Friends, Old & New (Mint 400 Records 2022) and A Place for Bass-Chamber Jazz Duets (Mint 400 Records 2022) marking a new chapter in his life, recording in the US after his return from ...
Continue ReadingGreg Chako: Friends, Old & New
by Edward Blanco
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 ...
Continue ReadingGreg Chako: Sudden Impact
by Edward Blanco
Cincinnati-based guitarist Greg Chako spent many years in Asia, living and performing in various countries including Japan, China and Singapore. He produced several albums during his time abroad, assembling a discography that has not been readily available to American jazz fans. Sudden Impact, originally released in 1996, is the first of several re-releases on the Mint 400 Records label designed to expose Chako's music to a wider audience. Staying within the straight-ahead tradition, the album presents seven re-imagined versions of ...
Continue ReadingGreg Chako: Everybody's Got A Name
by Michael P. Gladstone
Guitarist/composer/bandleader Greg Chako has recorded in varied venues and formats—performing in duet, trio and here in quartet. Paint A Picture, Tell A Story (CPB, 2007) even made use of marquee names Don Byron and Delfeayo Marsalis. It remains a mystery why he hasn't achieved wider acclaim and better gigs. Perhaps the use of a creative album cover could make a difference.Chako and the members of his quartet make use of classic jazz album covers in which the fonts, ...
Continue ReadingEverybody's Got A Name
by Edward Blanco
Greg Chako Everybody's Got A Name Self Published 2008
Guitarist and composer Greg Chako is the consummate musician who, despite personal hardships in his life, dedicates himself to the art of jazz with every fiber of his being, producing one fine album after another. Everybody's Got a Name is his ninth album overall, and fourth in a little over a two-year period. The music contained in his previous releases explored the expressive ...
Continue ReadingGreg Chako: Paint A Picture, Tell A Story
by Michael P. Gladstone
Perhaps reviewing guitarist Greg Chako's Where We Find Ourselves (CPB, 2006) and Two's Company, Three's A Crowd Jazz Duets (CPB, 2006), explains why his adventures, both musical and otherwise, remain amazing.
From Boston's Berklee College of Music, Chako relocated to New York, where he discovered his talent for culinary arts. In Amherst, Massachusetts, working as a chef, Chako found that he had talent as a jazz promoter of concerts and festivals, which also gave him access ...
Continue ReadingNew 'Live' Release By Guitarist Greg Chako - The Miami Project
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
This concert was the brainchild of my friend and fan, Edward Blanco. He suggested the appealing possibility of my doing a concert at WDNA’s Jazz Gallery years ago, but due to life circumstances, not the least of which was COVID 19, we weren’t sure until much later if the idea would ever actually materialize. During a 2021 visit to Miami, Ed introduced me to bassist Jamie Ousley and that’s when the three of us began planning this concert in earnest. ...
read more
Guitarist/Composer Greg Chako Trio New Release 'Standard Roots' On May 3, 2024
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
Guitarist Greg Chako’s 17th CD, Standard Roots, contains over 72 minutes of music, with an additional 23+ minutes of music included in the 4 ‘bonus tracks’ on the digital version of the album. The album represents a return to what Greg calls his “roots,” because it features the trio format of guitar, bass, and drums that he began his professional playing career with over 30 years ago. Additionally, Greg says: “I treasure my own song-writing above all else, but I ...
read more
Greg Chako And Mason Daugherty Double The Bass For Album Of Duets
Source:
Christine King
With a professional music career that has logged 35 years of work, composer/guitarist Greg Chako still hasn't achieved the mainstream recognition that he deserves. His latest album, A Place for Bass—Chamber Jazz Duets, continues to showcase his artistry and, in this project, his versatility as well. After all, Chako leaves his guitar in its case in this continuously engaging and spirited effort. Instead, he and Mason Daugherty display their bass-playing skills. However, they're not competing with one another. A Place ...
read more
Guitarist Greg Chako 'Friends, Old And New' Release Date: October 14th With Brazilian Flair!
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
A Cincinnati-born leader who's recorded in Singapore, with Australian and American players all living in Japan, playing all-original Latin-American Jazz—a truly unique sound! His travels have brought him many friends, old and new! Friends, Old and New Release Date: October 14th Label: Mint 400 Records & Raining Music “Recalls those exciting hard blowing sessions of the 1960’s which featured Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, and Jackie McLean... with an effective mix of hard bop and Latin rhythms guaranteed to ...
read more
Cadence Magazine (USA)
“…old standbys get spiced up with Latin rhythms, experiencing sudden ubiquity and fresh sound… The originals have a contemporary sound, colored with understated funk and backbeats, and girded with interesting structures… He uses his thumb to execute winningly lyrical lines made up of pillow-like notes…”
Jazz Journal (England)
“…warm guitar, gently flowing lines and occasional bursts of lush chords, Greg favors the use of his thumb to produce the rich sound he achieves… The music swings compulsively at times… The leader’s exotic sound and constantly inventive lines, the mainstream appeal of familiar material being given a refreshing twist, and a driving rhythm section.”
Kenny Burrell
guitar, electric
George Kahn
piano
Wes Montgomery
guitar
Larry Coryell
guitar
Project Grand Slam
band / ensemble / orchestra
Amina Figarova
piano
Roger Kellaway
piano
Joe Magnarelli
trumpet
Derrick Gardner
trumpet
Belinda Underwood
vocals
Rave Tesar
piano
Bob Lark
trumpet
Elio Villafranca
piano
Duduka Da Fonseca
drums
Dan Cray
piano
Pete Zimmer
drumsArtists who share similar musical characteristics to Greg Chako.
Horace Silver
piano
Art Blakey
drums
Charlie Christian
guitar, electric
John Coltrane
saxophone
Dave Frank
piano
John McLaughlin
guitar
Wes Montgomery
guitar
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto
Lester Young
saxophone
