Greg Abate

Greg Abate (born May 31, 1947)[1] is a jazz saxophonist, flautist, composer, and arranger. He grew up in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. In the fifth grade he began to play clarinet.

Greg Abate
Background information
Born (1947-05-31) May 31, 1947
Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, arranger
InstrumentsAlto saxophone, flute
Years active1973–present
LabelsCandid, Brownstone, Blue Chip, Koko, Whaling City Sound
Websitewww.gregabate.com

Career

After high school, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston.[2] After working for several years in California, he returned to Berklee in 1972 to finish his education. During a second trip to Los Angeles he was hired to play alto saxophone in the Ray Charles band in 1973 and '74.[1][3][4]

Soon after, Abate formed a sextet called Channel One.[5] The group's only album, Without Boundaries, was released in 1980. While living in Rhode Island, he became a member of Sax Odyssey, led by Tony Giorgianni, and Duke Bellair's Jazz Orchestra. In 1986 he was hired by Dick Johnson to play tenor saxophone in the Artie Shaw band.[1][2] He has also appeared with Jerome Richardson and Red Rodney.[6] He has taught at Rhode Island College.

In April 2016 Abate was among eight inductees for the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame.[7]

Discography
  • Bop City: Live at Birdland (Candid, 1991)
  • Straight Ahead (Candid, 1993)
  • Dr Jeckyll & Mr Hyde (Candid, 1995)
  • It's Christmas Time (Brownstone Recordings, 1995)
  • Bop Lives! (1201 Music/Blue Chip Jazz, 1996)
  • Happy Samba (Blue Chip, 1998)
  • Evolution (1201 Music, 2002)
  • Horace Is Here (Koko Jazz, 2005)
  • Monsters in the Night (Koko Jazz, 2006)
  • Horace Is Here: A Tribute to Horace Silver (Rhombus, 2011)
  • The Greg Abate Quintet Featuring Phil Woods (Posi-Tone, 2012)
  • Motif (Whaling City Sound, 2014)
  • Kindred Spirits: Live at Chan's (Whaling City Sound, 2016)
  • Road to Forever (Whaling City Sound, 2016)[8]
  • Gratitude[9] (Whaling City Sound, 2019)

References
  1. Yanow, Scott "Greg Abate Biography", Allmusic, retrieved 2011-02-05
  2. "Greg Abate Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine", All About Jazz, retrieved 2011-02-05
  3. Massimo, Rick (2004) "Charles remembered as a 'true original'", Providence Journal, June 11, 2004, retrieved 2011-02-05
  4. Butler, Mike "Jazz: Greg Abate", Metro, retrieved 2011-02-05
  5. Smith, Andy (1994) "Paul Murphy: Beloved, respected, gone The sudden death of a rhythm guitar genius stuns the local music scene", Providence Journal, August 19, 1994, p. D-02
  6. Kernfeld, Barry, ed. (2002). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (2 ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 2. ISBN 1561592846.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  7. ChrisS. "GoLocalProv | Lifestyle | Herb Weiss: Abate Joins Exclusive Class of Musicians". GoLocalProv. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  8. "Greg Abate | Album Discography | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  9. "International Jazz Musician | Greg Abate | United States". Greg Abate. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
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