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).
Greg continued his studies
on drums and exotic percussion with Joe Mekler (Deborah
Henson-Conant).
Greg's love of hearing live jazz 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 current 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
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Greg Federico has released four CD recordings to
date: the 1992 fusion-inspired Returning;
the 1995 straight-ahead sounding Another
Viewpoint; the 1998 style-varied Purity;
and a fourth effort in
2000 called Live
To Love, Love To Live that features
contemporary jazz with a poignant Midwestern
twist.
In December 2002, Greg was awarded two songwriting
accolades from The Composer’s Guild Annual
Composition Contest.
Greg received a 3rd place
finish for his ballad “The
Promise” as well as an honorable mention
for his inspiring composition “Faith”
in the Jazz/New Age category. Both
pieces appear on Greg's latest recording, Live
To Love, Love To Live.
2003 proved to be even more fruitful for Greg as the
accolades began steadily flowing in.
“Faith”
received
a 1st place award in the Instrumental category
of the Portland Songwriter’s Association Song
Contest in December of 2003, and later in that
month there followed additional honors from The
Composer’s Guild Annual Composition Contest
as "Beneath
the Stars" finished in 1st
place in the Jazz/New Age category while in the
same category Greg’s waltz/ballad
“Lullabye For Alexis” received an
honorable mention. All of these pieces can be heard on Greg’s latest
recording, Live
To Love, Love To Live.
Additionally,
in November Greg received 2nd place
finishes in The Mid-Atlantic Song Contest
sponsored by The Songwriter’s Association of
Washington for two songs from a “3 Song Vocal
Demo” that he completed earlier in 2003:
“Here We Are”, a vocal duet, was
awarded a silver prize in the Adult
Contemporary/Soft Rock genre; and
“Postcard”, a vocal tune with a samba feel,
took home a silver award in the
Latin/World/Reggae category.
Later on in December “Postcard” was
honored yet again with a 1st place
finish in the Pop category of the 2003
Composer’s Guild Annual Composition Contest.
Greg’s current
projects include a fifth recording called "Forever
Now", targeted for release in summer
of 2004.
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
cliche 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
emerging 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”.
In the last eleven years, Greg has developed several 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 thirteen years, Greg 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. Greg’s
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
Quotable:
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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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