027 I AM The Band with Greg Porée

Musical director, arranger-composer, artist, producer and world renown guitarist, Greg Poree,was influenced by a lot of great music growing up.  Falling in love with the guitar, he started playing seriously at the age of 15 years old.  At 23 he received the first break in his career, as musical director for Sonny & Cher. In 1970 he became the musical director for Gladys Knight and the Pips and soon was working with many of the Motown acts, serving as musical director and guitarist for Diana Ross, Thelma Houston, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, the Four Tops, and The Jackson 5.  By the late 1980s  he was becoming more active as a composer and producer, writing music for the Martin Lawrence Show and arranging for the National Symphony Orchestra and making significant contributions to the music of dozens of musical legends including Paul Anka, Sammy Davis Jr, Aretha Franklin, Isaac Hayes, Michael Jackson, James Brown, Joan Baez,  Al Green, Herbie Hancock, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.  Greg is the music director for the California Jazz Foundation and organization dedicated to helping  California jazz musicians in financial and medical crisis.

What you will hear:

• Loving what you do.  Setting yourself on a path.
  
• Greg’s early discovery of music and love of creating.
  
• Applying experience and knowledge to your true passion
  
• Musical influences.  Classical and folk music.
  
• Theory and the importance of how it’s viewed and learned.
  
• Youtube university and misinformation.
  
• Classical musicians: what is and isn’t taught.
  
• Hip Hop vs Music vs Poetry
  
• Music education and how it’s taught.
  
• Parenting and familial influence.
  
• Greg’s sister Anita Poree
  
• California Jazz Foundation
  
• Sonic Tonic Podcast
  

Quotes:

“My life’s journey has been to get back to my original self.”

“Any artist that buys into a fad will not survive.”

“Everything before 50 is practice.”

“I’ve always considered the piano the novel and the guitar the short story.”

“You’re only a half step away from the right note.”

“We’re always chasing melody.”

“Learning should be a mixture of curiosity and fun.”

“A good teacher and a parent should inspire.”

“To be true artists they had to find their own voice.”

Mentioned

Sydney Bechet

Count Basie

Duke Ellington

Nick Bonnie

IG@ AnitaPoree

Sonic Tonic Spotify

Sonic Tonic Google

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