Greg Jacobs was born in London, UK, and grew up in San Rafael, California. He started playing classical piano at 6 years old and fell in love with jazz as a teenager. Greg studied classical and jazz piano privately with Gini Wilson as a teenager and first started performing at private events with a jazz combo 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 while continuing to perform with his own group at private events and with the SFSU Jazz combos directed by Andrew Speight. In 2013, Greg started working full-time as a jazz pianist performing at private events and local venues, and has since performed at the SFJAZZ Miner Auditorium, Blue Note Napa, Black Cat, Dawn Club, Mr. Tipple’s Jazz Club, Club Deluxe, The Guild Theater, Bird and Beckett, and a plethora of other local venues, either with his own group or with ensembles led by musicians such as Marcus Shelby, Denise Perrier, Gerald Beckett, Andrew Dixon and Daniel Herrera, Noah Frank, Niel Levonius, Danny Brown, Noel Jewkes, Chris Amberger, Mete Tasin, Rodney Ruckus, and many more. Greg has developed a versatile voice with the instrument that incorporates his virtuosic technique with his in-depth study of a variety of musical idioms from swing, bebop, blues, and hard bop, to Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, funk, classical, and the avant-garde. Greg has also been the musical director and pianist at a local church since 2020, maintains a studio of about 7 – 10 private piano students, has been the pianist-conductor or pianist for numerous musical theater productions, and played Fender Rhodes on Sueños Jazz Quintet’s 2017 release, “Shots Fired.”

Longer version:

​Born in London, Greg Jacobs grew up in San Rafael, where he started playing classical piano when he was a small child. When he was twelve he was inspired by the music of Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Claude Debussy, and local pianist Zack Hornstein who would rehearse with Felix and Greg's brother, Josh, at their home, playing mostly blues, originals, and Bob Dylan covers. 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 big band led by Sean Castle at San Rafael High School and performed at private events with a jazz combo that included talented musicians from the high school Jazz ensemble. Meanwhile, he participated in recitals and competitions as a classical pianist and attended some of the public jam sessions 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 a class by 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, he 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.