Greg Spero
{{Short description|American musician}}
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Greg Spero (born February 22, 1985) is an American pianist from Highland Park, Illinois. He has toured with Halsey and the Miles Electric Band and has composed music for film and television.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gregspero.com/bio|title=Bio|website=Gregspero.com|access-date=March 11, 2022}} He leads the jazz band Spirit Fingers, (Max Gerl, Mike Mitchell, Dario Chiazzolino).{{cite web |last1=Ephland |first1=John |title=Greg Spero Commands a Multitude of Styles |url=http://downbeat.com/news/detail/greg-spero-commands-a-multitude-of-styles |website=Downbeat.com|access-date=January 20, 2019 |date=April 25, 2018}} He also runs a label called Tiny Room,{{Cite web|url=https://tiny-records.bandcamp.com/|title=Tiny Records|website=Tiny-records.bandcamp.com|access-date=March 11, 2022}} which runs live streamed sessions from its studio in Los Angeles and has been featured on NPR Live Sessions.{{Cite web|url=https://livesessions.npr.org/|title=Live Sessions|website=Livesessions.npr.org|access-date=March 11, 2022}} When the coronavirus pandemic caused live music to cease in 2020, he launched a startup called weeBID which is the first fan initiated crowd funding platform.{{Cite web|url=https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27360511|title = WeeBID (www.weebid.app) is the first fan-initiated crowdfunding platform, where ... |website=News.ycombinator.com}} Spero was described as "a new breed of record exec, at the vanguard of big changes in music industry".{{Cite web|url=https://www.wrti.org/arts-desk/2021-08-25/jazz-pianist-greg-spero-a-new-breed-of-record-exec-at-vanguard-of-big-changes-in-music-industry|title=Jazz Pianist Greg Spero, A New Breed Of Record Exec, At Vanguard Of Big Changes In Music Industry|date=August 25, 2021|website=Wrti.org|access-date=March 11, 2022}} He outlined his vision for weeBID at the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship, Chicago in August 2021. {{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQruWybNF3M|title=Greg Spero - Reframe 2021|date=August 30, 2021 |via=YouTube}}
Career
Spero's mother was a classical pianist and his father was a blues pianist. When he was fourteen, he joined his father's band. He also worked with Frank Catalano, Buddy Rich, and Robert Irving III.{{cite news |date=March 19, 2018 |last1=Fragassi |first1=Selena |title=After Halsey tour, Highland Park musician stretches out with Spirit Fingers |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/3/19/18371921/after-halsey-tour-highland-park-musician-stretches-out-with-spirit-fingers |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=January 20, 2019}} Spero became a devotee of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism through Herbie Hancock,{{cite web |url=https://postgenre.org/spero-chicago-experiment |title=Technology and Community: A Conversation with Greg Spero on The Chicago Experiment and NFTs |first=Rob |last=Shepherd |date=January 19, 2022 |website=PostGenre |access-date=November 8, 2022}} whom he met at the Ravinia Festival.
In 2009, he launched a jazz piano masterclass channel on YouTube called weeklypiano.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/c/weeklypiano|title=weeklypiano - YouTube|via=YouTube|access-date=March 11, 2022}}
His album Radio Over Miles (2010) is a combination of Miles Davis and rock band Radiohead. The album was nominated for Best Jazz Album at the Chicago Music Awards. Spero's album Live in Toronto is "sold" at a karmic price; the download is available for free in exchange for karma. "Purchasers" have to check a box agreeing to complete four karmic transactions to include giving "five random smiles to people on the street, regardless of age, sex, or looks." His album Acoustic (2011) is in a piano trio setting.
In 2014, Spero began performing with pop artist Halsey. Between 2014 and his leave in 2018, Spero designed and performed all the synthesizer and keyboard parts for her live shows, at such venues as Madison Square Garden, Allstate Arena, and The Forum.{{Cite web |author=Erin Yarnall |date=January 24, 2019 |url=https://www.hplandmark.com/p/life-arts-arts/highland-park-native-creates-his-own-place-music-scene |title=Highland Park Native creates his Own Place in Music Scene |website=Hplandmark.com|access-date=2019-02-11}} Spero and Halsey also performed on such late night TV shows as Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. On January 19, 2018, Spero performed live on Saturday Night Live with Halsey. That day, he announced that he would be leaving the group to pursue his band Spirit Fingers full time, along with curating a video series called Tiny Room out of his Los Angeles studio.
In 2015, while on tour with Halsey, Spero began composing for his new project which would eventually be named Spirit Fingers.{{Cite web|url=http://www.revive-music.com/2018/03/16/pianist-greg-spero-spirit-fingers-interview-debut-stream/|title=Interview: Pianist Greg Spero On 'SPIRIT FINGERS' + Album Debut Stream|date=2018-03-16|website=Revive-music.com|access-date=2019-02-11|archive-date=February 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011226/http://www.revive-music.com/2018/03/16/pianist-greg-spero-spirit-fingers-interview-debut-stream/|url-status=dead}} Spero accrued musicians Hadrien Feraud, Mike Mitchell, and Dario Chiazzolino to join the group. They recorded their debut record on Shanachie Records, released on March 16, 2018, and reached number 11 on the iTunes Jazz chart and number 20 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart.{{Cite web |date=May 29, 2018 |url=http://voyagechicago.com/interview/meet-greg-spero-internet/ |title=Meet Greg Spero, a Jazz Musician |website=Voyagechicago.com |access-date=2019-02-11}}
Although he has composed and performed jazz, his interest in other styles afforded him opportunities to record with Ski Beatz, Shock G, and American rapper Murs. Spero has also written songs with Darryl Jones. He composed music for the Feltre Theater performances of Eugène Ionesco's Exit the King, two Tennessee Williams one-act plays, and for the film The Perfect Breakup.
He has performed with Arturo Sandoval, Corey Wilkes, and co-produced tracks with Ski Beatz (of Jay Z) and Shock G.{{Cite web |url=http://revivalist.okayplayer.com/2011/12/07/greg-spero-greater-than-you-can-hear/ |title=Greg Spero: Greater Than You Can Hear – the Revivalist |access-date=June 16, 2012 |archive-date=June 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604235809/http://revivalist.okayplayer.com/2011/12/07/greg-spero-greater-than-you-can-hear/ |url-status=dead }}
In 2020, he founded a startup company called Weebid, which is a crowdfunded marketplace for artists to interact with their fans.{{Cite news|url=https://cceglobal.org/event/weebinar-a-presentation-of-new-app-weebid-by-founder-greg-spero/|title = Weebinar - a presentation of new app weeBID by founder Greg Spero|newspaper=Center for Creative Entrepreneurship}}
Discography
- Fossil Fuels in the House that Mouse Built (Bucket Shop, 2002)
- Live in 25 (Greg Spero Trio, 2005)
- The Mighty Burner (Frank Catalano, 2006)
- GMG{{Cite web|title=GMG (Greg Spero, Makaya McCraven, Graham Czach), 2008, by Greg Spero|url=https://gregspero.bandcamp.com/album/gmg-greg-spero-makaya-mccraven-graham-czach-2008|access-date=2021-03-06|website=Gregspero.bandcamp.com}} (Greg Spero, Makaya McCraven, Graham Czach), 2008
- Radio Over Miles (Greg Spero, 2010)
- Frank Russell (Frank Russell, 2011)
- Acoustic (Greg Spero, 2011)
- Electric (Greg Spero, 2014)
- PEACE{{Cite web|title=PEACE, by Spirit Fingers, Greg Spero|url=https://spirit-fingers.bandcamp.com/|access-date=2021-03-06|website=Spirit-fingers.bandcamp.com}} (with Spirit Fingers, 2020)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.gregspero.com/}}
- [http://carminelitta.com/video-interview-greg-spero/ Interview]
- {{AllMusic}}
- {{Bandcamp}}
- {{Discogs artist}}
- {{MusicBrainz artist}}
- {{YouTube|u=gns134}}
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Category:American jazz composers
Category:American male jazz composers
Category:American jazz musicians
Category:People from Highland Park, Illinois
Category:Jazz fusion musicians