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Greg Murphy
Pianist Greg Murphy can burn with the best of them.
About Me
Chicago native Greg Murphy has been a
major contributor to the New York City
jazz scene since the 1980s and he’s
probably best known for his twenty-two
year association with John Coltrane’s
multidirectional drummer, Rashied Ali.
Greg began his musical adventures in
1971 when he joined the Ray-Fisk
Grammar School Band in Chicago. His
classical studies began later that year
with Lucia Santini at Roosevelt University.
Between 1980 and 1984, he played with
the jazz/funk band Lightning Flash
Thunder Roar, The University of Illinois at
Chicago Big Band, The Northern Illinois
University Big Band, and other local
Chicago bands.
A jazz study grant from the National
Endowment for the Arts in 1984 gave
Greg the opportunity to go to New
Orleans and study with the eminent
pianist and jazz educator, Ellis Marsalis.
He remained there and began recording
and performing with The New Orleans
Jazz Couriers, Percussion Incorporated,
and his own group, The Fusicians. The
Percussion Incorporated album, Drum
Talk, (Greg’s first recording) was recorded
and released in 1987. While living in the
crescent city, Greg performed with
Donald Harrison, Wynton Marsalis, and
countless other great musicians.
Greg moved to New York in 1987 and
began what had become a long
association with drummer, Rashied Ali.
Greg performed and recorded with Ali
and his various groups throughout
Europe, Canada, the United States and
beyond, from 1987 until Rashied passed
away in 2009.
Throughout his career, Greg has
performed extensively in the US, France,
Ireland, Japan, China and The Philippines
with his own trio and other groups. He’s
also worked in New York with Ornette
Coleman and in France with Carlos
Santana and Archie Shepp. In 2012, Greg
recorded the theme song “Brother, Can
You Spare a Dime?” for the HBO
documentary Redemption, which received
a 2013 Academy Award nomination for
best documentary short. Bright Idea, his
critically acclaimed CD (featuring Jeff
“Tain” Watts) was #1 on the JazzWeek
charts in February and March of 2019.
Greg also performed with Billy Hart,
Arthur Taylor, Joe Lovano, Grachan
Moncur, III, Christian McBride, Cindy
Blackman, Flava Flav, Charles McPherson,
Larry Ridley, William Parker and Charles
Gayle, among many others.
My Jazz Story
I love jazz because... I was first exposed to jazz... I met [musician name]... The best show I ever attended was... The first jazz record I bought was... My advice to new listeners... Or whatever else you have in mind.