Short version:
Greg Jacobs is a versatile pianist from San Rafael, California, who studied classical and jazz piano with Gini Wilson as a child and started working as a jazz pianist at 14 years old. He moved to San Francisco in 2007 to attend San Francisco State University, earning Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Physiology and Spanish respectively. Greg has made his living as a full-time pianist since 2013, performing around 200 times per year in addition to teaching privately. Since Fall of 2017, he has played with Sueños Jazz Quintet which performs all-original music, playing Fender Rhodes on their album, “Shots Fired.” Greg has performed at many premier jazz venues in the Bay Area, including Blue Note Napa, Black Cat, The Backroom, Impulse Room, and Club Deluxe. He played for productions of Urinetown and Hairspray in 2018, and was pianist-conductor for Chicago at the Throckmorton Theater in March 2019.
Longer version:
Born in London, Greg Jacobs grew up in San Rafael, where he started playing classical piano as a small child. When he was twelve he was inspired by the music of Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and by a local pianist Zack Hornstein who played blues, originals, and folk music and would rehearse with Felix and Greg's brother Josh at their home. Greg studied classical and jazz piano with the brilliant Gini Wilson for about four years while he attended San Rafael High School. As a teenager, he spent countless hours playing the standards and fell in love with music, especially the music of Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane among many others. Greg played in the jazz band led by Sean Castle at San Rafael High School and performed at private events with a quartet based on the big band's rhythm section. Meanwhile he participated in recitals and competitions as a classical pianist and attended some of the public jam sessions at bars and clubs in San Francisco, while also playing organ, guitar, and keyboard with friends that liked to play reggae, ska, blues, and other styles of music. Greg attended Jazz Camp West twice where he took some lessons from Elio Villafranca on Afro Cuban piano methods, and was inspired by his experiences there to play with other musicians as much as possible. While getting his Bachelors degrees in Biology and Spanish at San Francisco State University, Greg played in the jazz combos directed by Andrew Speight and continued to play trio and quartet gigs at private events. Shortly after graduating from university in 2013 Greg started to perform more frequently and teach private lessons and then decided to pursue music full-time.
Greg plays with a quartet at Topsy's Fun House on Mondays from 9pm to 12am, and plays duo with Jerry Logas at Iron Horse Cocktails on Wednesday nights. Greg frequently performs at Osteria Divino in Sausalito. The Greg Jacobs Trio was playing once a week at The Elite Cafe in San Francisco for nine months in 2015 and at Le Colonial once a week from July 2016 to December 2017. Greg lead a piano/double-bass duo at Cafe Jolie in Alameda on Friday and Saturday nights for 4 and a half years. from June of 2013 to January 2018. Greg Jacobs is the pianist for Sueños Jazz Quintet and Four and More Jazz Combo.
Greg has also played at Blue Note Napa, The Backroom, The Impulse Room, Club Deluxe, Black Cat SF, Bird and Beckett, Rose Pistola, Osteria Divino, Savanna Jazz, Cafe Van Kleef, Sheba Piano Lounge, Penrose, Boot and Shoe Service, Mr Tipples Recording Studio, the Burritt Room, Starline Social Club, Comstock Saloon, No Name Bar, the Moonraker, the Cliff House, Woods Bar and Brewery, and other venues. Greg has worked with Joe Cohen, Lyle Link, Danny Brown, James Mahone, Chris Amberger, John Wiitala, Ollie Dudek, Charles Thomas, Aaron Germain, Sam Bevan, Denise Perrier, Noah Frank, Candace Johnson, Hamir Atwal, Bob Kenmotsu, Mark Anthony Lee, Four and More Jazz Combo, Sueños Jazz Quintet, Leon Joyce Jr, Brandon Farmer, Eli Maliwan, Curtis Aikens, Smith Dobson, Giulio Xavier Cetto, David Rokeach, Todd Dickow, Joe Kelner, Bryan Bowman, Rodney Ruckus, Genius Weseley, Knox Barber, Jean Ramirez, Jack Riordan, Jerry Woo, Mike Quigg, Dave Rocha, John Brothers Piano Company, Tim Lin, Danny Gerz, Otto Huber, Omar Aran, Adam Gay, Malachi Whitson, Myron Cohen, Dave Rocha, Mike Parykaza, Jimi Marks, Rick Rivera, John Thatcher 'Boomer', Greg Ashley, Arlo Perlstein, Ryan Gordon, and many others, and has performed for numerous weddings and wedding receptions.
Greg Jacobs is a versatile pianist from San Rafael, California, who studied classical and jazz piano with Gini Wilson as a child and started working as a jazz pianist at 14 years old. He moved to San Francisco in 2007 to attend San Francisco State University, earning Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Physiology and Spanish respectively. Greg has made his living as a full-time pianist since 2013, performing around 200 times per year in addition to teaching privately. Since Fall of 2017, he has played with Sueños Jazz Quintet which performs all-original music, playing Fender Rhodes on their album, “Shots Fired.” Greg has performed at many premier jazz venues in the Bay Area, including Blue Note Napa, Black Cat, The Backroom, Impulse Room, and Club Deluxe. He played for productions of Urinetown and Hairspray in 2018, and was pianist-conductor for Chicago at the Throckmorton Theater in March 2019.
Longer version:
Born in London, Greg Jacobs grew up in San Rafael, where he started playing classical piano as a small child. When he was twelve he was inspired by the music of Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and by a local pianist Zack Hornstein who played blues, originals, and folk music and would rehearse with Felix and Greg's brother Josh at their home. Greg studied classical and jazz piano with the brilliant Gini Wilson for about four years while he attended San Rafael High School. As a teenager, he spent countless hours playing the standards and fell in love with music, especially the music of Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane among many others. Greg played in the jazz band led by Sean Castle at San Rafael High School and performed at private events with a quartet based on the big band's rhythm section. Meanwhile he participated in recitals and competitions as a classical pianist and attended some of the public jam sessions at bars and clubs in San Francisco, while also playing organ, guitar, and keyboard with friends that liked to play reggae, ska, blues, and other styles of music. Greg attended Jazz Camp West twice where he took some lessons from Elio Villafranca on Afro Cuban piano methods, and was inspired by his experiences there to play with other musicians as much as possible. While getting his Bachelors degrees in Biology and Spanish at San Francisco State University, Greg played in the jazz combos directed by Andrew Speight and continued to play trio and quartet gigs at private events. Shortly after graduating from university in 2013 Greg started to perform more frequently and teach private lessons and then decided to pursue music full-time.
Greg plays with a quartet at Topsy's Fun House on Mondays from 9pm to 12am, and plays duo with Jerry Logas at Iron Horse Cocktails on Wednesday nights. Greg frequently performs at Osteria Divino in Sausalito. The Greg Jacobs Trio was playing once a week at The Elite Cafe in San Francisco for nine months in 2015 and at Le Colonial once a week from July 2016 to December 2017. Greg lead a piano/double-bass duo at Cafe Jolie in Alameda on Friday and Saturday nights for 4 and a half years. from June of 2013 to January 2018. Greg Jacobs is the pianist for Sueños Jazz Quintet and Four and More Jazz Combo.
Greg has also played at Blue Note Napa, The Backroom, The Impulse Room, Club Deluxe, Black Cat SF, Bird and Beckett, Rose Pistola, Osteria Divino, Savanna Jazz, Cafe Van Kleef, Sheba Piano Lounge, Penrose, Boot and Shoe Service, Mr Tipples Recording Studio, the Burritt Room, Starline Social Club, Comstock Saloon, No Name Bar, the Moonraker, the Cliff House, Woods Bar and Brewery, and other venues. Greg has worked with Joe Cohen, Lyle Link, Danny Brown, James Mahone, Chris Amberger, John Wiitala, Ollie Dudek, Charles Thomas, Aaron Germain, Sam Bevan, Denise Perrier, Noah Frank, Candace Johnson, Hamir Atwal, Bob Kenmotsu, Mark Anthony Lee, Four and More Jazz Combo, Sueños Jazz Quintet, Leon Joyce Jr, Brandon Farmer, Eli Maliwan, Curtis Aikens, Smith Dobson, Giulio Xavier Cetto, David Rokeach, Todd Dickow, Joe Kelner, Bryan Bowman, Rodney Ruckus, Genius Weseley, Knox Barber, Jean Ramirez, Jack Riordan, Jerry Woo, Mike Quigg, Dave Rocha, John Brothers Piano Company, Tim Lin, Danny Gerz, Otto Huber, Omar Aran, Adam Gay, Malachi Whitson, Myron Cohen, Dave Rocha, Mike Parykaza, Jimi Marks, Rick Rivera, John Thatcher 'Boomer', Greg Ashley, Arlo Perlstein, Ryan Gordon, and many others, and has performed for numerous weddings and wedding receptions.