In This Site
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Greg Federico:
Philosopher,
Composer, Performer, Musician
PHILOSOPHER: "Greg Federico is a
philosopher.
He also is a musician.
It's almost impossible to separate the
two facets of who he is, and probably not
necessary, because one enhances the other."
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-- Janet Purcell-Piggott, Hopewell
Valley News
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Greg
Federico received his BA in Philosophy from Villanova
University in 1991, but has since
philosophically lived a life of music. Subsequent
to his philosophy degree, Greg studied music
education (specializing in drums and percussion)
for two years at Trenton
State College under the tutelage of Tony
DeNicola (Harry James Orchestra).
During
his time at TSC, and for a couple of years
following, Greg augmented his studies on drums and
exotic percussion with Joe
Mekler (Deborah Henson-Conant). His love of hearing live jazz eventually
took him to New York City's famed jazz
"dive", The
55 Bar, where he met and subsequently studied
with drummer Dick
Weller, who was performing at the time with
Atlantic recording artist and jazz guitarist Mike Stern. Shortly thereafter, Greg connected with drummer Richie
Morales (Spyro Gyra, Grover Washington
Jr.) at another Mike Stern show and this
proved pivotal to Greg's educational advancement.
Studies with Morales led to studies with Greg's
latest mentor, John
Riley (Stan
Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis,
Quincy Jones,
Randy Brecker, Woody Herman,
Bob Mintzer,
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra), who is the author of two books:
“The Art of Bop Drumming” and “Beyond
Bop Drumming”.
COMPOSER:
"He’s
a New Jersey-ian who calls his music ‘Midwestern
Impressionism’ and an instrumentalist whose
compositions are poetic."
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-- Susan Van Dongen, Princeton
Packet |
Greg Federico has independently
released four of his own recordings to date:
Returning
(1992); Another
Viewpoint (1995); Purity
(1998); and Live To Love,
Love To Live (2000). In addition to these four
full length CD recordings, Greg has also recorded
and produced a 3 Song
Vocal Demo which features three of his own
original lyrics set to the backdrop of his easily
engaging brand of contemporary jazz music.
In the past four years Greg has
been awarded many accolades as a composer from
various songwriting competitions. These include
such significant acknowledgements as:
For
a complete list of all of Greg's songwriting
awards and recognitions please click
here.
Greg's
current projects include a fifth recording called Forever
Now, targeted for release mid-2007.
PERFORMER: "...this man is very talented in a lot of areas...
Federico...concentrates on the groove and
creates support for the soloists…He avoids the
cliché of playing predictable, repetitive
rhythms...and his timing is flawless."
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-- Jack Grassel, Milwaukee City
Edition
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As a performer, Greg has had the
good fortune to play with several notable jazz
artists including Milwaukee guitarist Jack Grassel (author of several guitar instructional texts including
“Big Ax”, a book on Jack's innovative art of
accompaniment in which the guitarist plays a bass
line and independent chords simultaneously), New
York pianist Eric
Olsen (Urban
Survival), and the late, great bassist Ron
Velosky (Maynard
Ferguson, Denis DiBlasio) who authored “Sight Reading For Bass”. Greg has
also had the pleasure of touring and recording
with the exciting and up and coming jazz guitarist
B.D. Lenz.
In
the last thirteen years, Greg has developed
several of his own jazz ensembles, each with their
own unique sound, and the philosopher - turned -
musician performs on a regular basis in the
Mid-Atlantic region. Though “home” for Greg is
considered the New Jersey corridor between
Philadelphia and New York City, he has also toured
the Midwest on several occasions to promote his CD
recordings. As Curt
Yeske of The
Trenton Times writes: “Part
of the journey for young musicians is to make
themselves and their talents known. Few have been
any more diligent than Federico in persevering to
get engagements for his groups and the exposure of
his music on his CDs.”
MUSICIAN: “While some musical wannabes may pin their dreams of
success on pie-in-the-sky notions of fame and
fortune, Federico keeps his ambitions solidly
grounded on hard work and hard facts.”
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-- Jack Florek, U.S.1 |
A
consummate musician, Greg has been actively
involved in the educational side of music as
well.
For over sixteen years, he has enjoyed
providing private music instruction on piano,
drums and vibraphone for children and adults
alike. Greg is also one of a “dying
breed” of music instructors who offer the
option of private lessons in the student's home
and this has helped to make his name quite
popular in both Mercer and Somerset Counties in
New Jersey. Greg's natural skills as a
music teacher have helped him build a clientele
of over 40 students per week, and his infectious
passion for music has helped inspire some of his
past young students to continue their own
musical studies at the collegiate level and
beyond.
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In This Section
Buzz
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| "Throughout it all
there are some tell-tale signs of your philosophical
inclinations. There is a richness of expression and a
soothing, non-offensive climax in many sections. . . overall
a very
fine presentation. Will look forward to the next one."
Rev.
J. W of Villanova University, Villanova, PA
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