Jazz/funk/soul guitarist, composer and producer Greg Porée will be guest speaker Wednesday, January 19, at the weekly meeting of the Pasadena Rotary Club, which begins at 12 noon. He will speak about “Making Music.”
The meeting will be on Zoom and open to the public.
Greg Porée grew up in Chicago in a multi-cultural environment and has lived in Southern California since he was seven. As an accomplished musician, he has built an impressive career in Los Angeles around music. He was exposed to diverse styles of music early on, ranging from Bach to Beatles, Jazz to R&B and from Brazilian to Afro-Cuban. He settled on the guitar at age 15 and immediately began applying all of what he heard to that instrument.
In 1969, he got his first break into the music business as musical director for Sonny and Cher. From there, he worked with a diverse group of artists ranging from Ray Charles to Aretha Franklin to Diana Ross. He can be heard on landmark albums from artists such as Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Stanley Turrentine, Randy Crawford, Albert King, Ahmad Jamal, Donald Byrd and Ozomatli.
As a musical director, his credits include The Supremes, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Joan Baez. Porée also produced groundbreaking solo albums in association with Sting for world music master Vinx and was the lead guitarist on the BBC hit show “Dancing with the Stars” for eight years.
From 2000, he shifted his focus from studio work to composition and that has been his priority with the CD Inventions as a prime example of his style. His music revolves around the classical guitar and his live performing ensembles might also include percussion, violin, accordion, bass, vibraphone and keyboards.
Since 2012, he has also been involved with the California Jazz Foundation, a non-profit that assists musicians who have fallen on hard times.
To join the Zoom meeting on Wednesday, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
For more information, visit www.pasadenarotary.com, email office@pasadenarotary.com or call (626) 400-6750.
