WHO IS PAUL GRECCO

- PERFORMER, COMPOSER, ARRANGER AND TEACHER.

-Paul, originally from the Niagara Region, is a Berklee College of Music alumnus (arranging and composition major). He has also studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and is an Associate of Trinity College (of music), London (A.T.C.L.).

- Since age 17, Paul has played many cities with numerous musical groups, from duos to 20-piece orchestras. His talent has taken him on tour with the Glenn Miller Orchestra for three years under the direction of Buddy DeFranco and taught and worked with Dave Mathews of the “Dave Mathews Band.”

BackgroundHow long have you been studying piano and music in general?

- "all my life from age 7 -I made a difficult switch form accordion to piano as a teenager "

What made you first interested in music and playing the piano?

- "hearing music at home, recordings and the radio. My father was a bandleader for 10 years in his 20's(1940-1950) and I went to a party with him when I was really young- maybe 13 and met a sax player he used to play with ,this was the first time I heard Charlie Parker."

influencesWho were some players who influenced your musical development?

- "the first jazz (r&b) piano player I liked was Ramsey Lewis .He had a hit on the radio called "In Crowd.” Everybody knew Oscar Peterson and Errol Garner because they were on T.V. all the time in the 60's, then later I discovered Herbie Hancock and others, like Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner and the other predictable names that everybody knows…”

A big stepWhen did you decide that music was something you wanted to do the rest of your life? And why did you choose Berklee?

- “I made the decision that I wanted to make a living playing music around 19 or 20 years old, I can’t believe I had my mind made up by then.”

- “At that time ,there were no jazz music programs in Canada, and Berklee was ,and still is of course, world famous. I thought, what better place to go to study with great teachers."

Choosing your major

- "I was originally most interested in writing and the piano was a secondary thing, a sound board for arranging and writing tunes."

Why did you choose arranging and composition as your major?

Making a nameWhen you were at Berklee you also had the opportunity to become a great performer and landed a gig as the piano player for the Glen Miller Orchestra. What was that like? How did you get this opportunity?- “I was very lucky to get that gig at 23 years old. A

family friend named Joe Nicolo (guitarist and vocalist) had been in the band in the late 60's and decided to go back on the road. When the piano player left, Joe gave them my name. The "book" as it's called (the piano parts) were not too hard. I think they were tired of hiring really hot players who would get bored and leave ha ha!”

- “I worked under 4 different conductors. The first was Buddy DeFranco and he was very tolerant, a guy who's a walking history of the music, but also one of the finest human beings I've ever met. The road was alot of fun, but I daydream now about how great it would be to take a keyboard of today back in a time machine ,and have it to practice on every day in hotel rooms, 'cause the pianos were often in so-so, or bad shape."

making a livingWhat is the greatest advantage of making a life at music?

- “The best thing about it is doing what you love to do, being mostly your own boss, and having the chance to keep developing, and improving- there's always lots to learn."

making a livingWhat is the greatest disadvantage of making a life at music?

- “Dealing with people who are not reputable is the worst. People who try to get away with not paying you, Fortunately I've only had a few bad experiences of that kind. then there's the odd person you'll encounter who's a toxic personality on the bandstand. When I run into rude arrogant people I'm gone for good.

making a livingWhat is the greatest disadvantage of making a life at music?

- “Dealing with people who are not reputable is the worst. People who try to get away with not paying you, Fortunately I've only had a few bad experiences of that kind. then there's the odd person you'll encounter who's a toxic personality on the bandstand. When I run into rude arrogant people I'm gone for good.

Moving back home

- “When I was in the U.S.A. there were lots of opportunities to play and lots of places to play. I left and came back to Canada ,not just for homesick reasons, but also because it was so difficult as a piano player to practice on the road, and I wanted to improve and not just keep doing the same thing. there's no comparison in Canada to, so many of the gigs that were available were in the U.S.”

You once said that once you left the USA it was the death of your performing career. Why? And if you had the chance would you do anything different?

perspective

- “yes, I'm glad I stayed active in music. Even though its been a terrible struggle at times, I'm grateful for all the experiences I've had, the people I've met and the things I've seen because of being involved in music. I've been very fortunate to play with alot of excellent musicians and singers over the years, and teaching has been the greatest thing. Sure, it stabalizes your life financially (if you can keep yourself employed) but much more than that, its great to share the info and experience you've got. I hope I've saved a few people some hard knocks out there by giving them a "heads up" on a few things that caught me by surprise in my early more naive days. Also, your students will teach you alot if you'll listen to them. I love to see them progress. I don't really think of it as a "job to Get Money".

Now looking back, are you happy with the decision you made of pursuing a career in music?

advice- “Its easy to get caught up in the theory you learn at school-Don't get me wrong! its all very valuable, but learn lots of songs -constantly research and learn tunes, and apply all that good stuff you learning class to those tunes. If you want to survive, be versatile .Open more doors than you close. Keep your sense of humour (or develop one). Some of the greatest musicians I was lucky enough to meet were also great human beings while some of the "very good/pretty good" ones were arrogant snobs and narcissists. Common courtesy and a friendly handshake cost you nothing.”

What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?