Greg Burk

Greg Burk

Musicians | Instrument: Piano | Location: Rome

A pianist and composer with vigorous, freewheeling ideas that always feel grounded within a well-reasoned structure.

—Boston Herald

Updated: June 6, 2023

Born: June 24, 1969

Pianist/composer/educator Greg Burk has lived, studied, educated and performed around the world. Over the last decade, living and working in Detroit, Boston and now Rome, he has established himself not only as a vital sideman, but also as a leader with the rare ability to combine original compositions with memorable melodies and a desire to push the creative envelope as an improviser. He has been called "an exceptional pianist/composer" (All Music Guide), "a pianist and composer with vigorous, freewheeling ideas that always feel grounded within a well-reasoned structure" (Boston Herald), "a pianist with a gift for melody and a generous touch that makes you want to like him" (LA Weekly), and a musician that "plays with an apparent love and passion for his craft" (AllAboutJazz). Greg grew up in a culturally diverse and musical household. His father, Dennis Burk, was an internationally active conductor and the son of Russian and Polish immigrants. Greg's mother, Giovanna Collonelli, was a singer and linguist who came to the U.S. in her 20's. In her native Italy, she was a trained opera singer and winner of a national competition to study at La Scala in Milan. Greg began studying piano at age six with his grandmother, Billie Endervelt, a classically trained pianist and improviser who accompanied silent movies in her youth. At 15, Greg discovered jazz and by 16 he was working professionally, playing solo gigs and in a group with some friends. Before leaving high school, his group performed at DownBeat's Musicfest in Chicago, where Greg was awarded outstanding soloist. His decision to become a professional musician was solidified as a teenager when friend and Detroit-based bassist Rodney Whittaker took him to hear and sit in with veteran jazz musicians and the talented younger players from the city's fertile musical scene. As a music composition student at UMASS Amherst, Greg was fortunate to have Yusef Lateef and Archie Shepp as teachers. "Lateef's approach to teaching improvisation/composition was as organic and spiritual as it was systematic and disciplined," Greg remembers. "This approach allowed me to cultivate my ideas freely while tempering them with form and specific materials. Shepp's teaching was more hands-on and involved playing Bird and Ellington tunes each week." With composer/bassist Sal Macchia, Greg's studies included aural training, orchestration and composition. He finished his degree at the University of Michigan, where he received a Bachelor's Degree in English and Music. After graduation, Greg settled in Bratislava, Slovakia, from which he toured throughout Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, and Italy, appearing in clubs, at festivals, and on radio and television.

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5
Album Review

Greg Burk: Sound Neighbors

Read "Sound Neighbors" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Just as they say in real estate, “location, location, location," the same can be said for the piano trio of Greg Burk, bassist Ron Seguin, and drummer Michel Lambert. Recorded in Rome, where the American Burk now makes his home, Sound Neighbors reunites the pianist with the Canadians Seguin (also a resident of Rome) and Lambert, who were last heard on Burk's Many Worlds (482 Music, 2009) with Henry Cook.The music does travel well, meaning that locating the ...

14
Album Review

Greg Burk: As A River

Read "As A River" reviewed by Don Phipps


Having studied with George Russell and Paul Bley, and performed with Kenny Wheeler, David Murray and Steve Swallow, there is no doubting Greg Burk's bona fides. And with As a River, Burk has fashioned a series of deeply-felt original compositions--15 in all--that would make his mentors proud. Burk's compositions are edgy and serene, bluesy and poetic, all of them demonstrating a wide range of emotions. His technique is both forceful and flowing, a difficult tandem to deploy; but ...

8
Take Five With...

Take Five With Greg Burk

Read "Take Five With Greg Burk" reviewed by Greg Burk


About Greg Burk Following his acclaimed 2016 release Clean Spring on SteepleChase Records, American pianist and composer Greg Burk returns with solo piano As A River--his 12th and most lyrical album to date. The son of classical musicians, Burk spent his formative years on the jny: Detroit jazz scene, followed by studies in jny: Boston with the likes of George Russell, Danilo Perez and Paul Bley. The lyrical, classical, side of Burk's music emerges with conviction ...

Album Review

Greg Burk Expanding Trio: Deep Blue Sky

Read "Deep Blue Sky" reviewed by Maurizio Zerbo


Deep Blue Sky ripropone la sonorità elettrica del sintetizzatore Moog, con scansioni ritmiche tra jazz e funky. Il canone di riferimento, in voga negli anni Settanta, viene talora rinverdito con una dimensione ritmica contemporanea. C'è pure spazio per le sonorità acustiche, magnificamente rivelate dall'aura intimistica ed introspettiva di “Starbright Reverie." Oltre a rispecchiare maggiormente la poetica jazzistica di Greg Burk, l'intensa narratività melodica di questa composizione è l'episodio più riuscito di un percorso musicale complessivamente arioso e ritmicamente ...

1
Album Review

Greg Burk: Clean Spring

Read "Clean Spring" reviewed by Maurizio Zerbo


Con questo bel CD il pianista statunitense dimostra per l'ennesima volta la sua classe di compositore e improvvisatore. Probabilmente il fatto di risiedere in Italia ha arricchito di tinte più melodiche un ampio florilegio di tecnica pianistica, che spazia tra scansioni irregolari e rarefazioni improvvise. Composto da sole composizioni originarie, il repertorio proposto ha il merito di sottrarsi all'abusato stile evansiano, oggi acriticamente di moda tra i suoi colleghi. Clean Spring è un disco di profonda ricerca, con ...

6
Album Review

Greg Burk: Clean Spring

Read "Clean Spring" reviewed by Budd Kopman


Pianist Greg Burk has built quite a discography as a leader, including solo albums and his latest, Clean Spring will only further burnish his reputation as a deep player and thinker. In a very real sense, this album is a homage to Burk's mentor Paul Bley, who had an obvious impact of Burk's musical attitude and playing, but who also helped Burk pick out the tracks for the album in the months between the actual recording sessions and his death ...

194
Album Review

Greg Burk Trio: The Path Here

Read "The Path Here" reviewed by Troy Collins


The Path Here, pianist Greg Burk's fifth release for the adventurous 482 Music label, finds the Rome-based American expatriate revisiting and reinterpreting some of the most engaging compositions of his youthful career, aided by old friends Jonathan Robinson (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). Previously heard together with tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi on Burk's 2004 quartet release Carpe Momentum (Soul Note), Robinson and Cleaver's shared history as the pianist's preferred accompanists dates back almost two decades; Burk met Robinson in 1989 ...

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93

Recording

Greg Burk - Many Worlds (2010)

Greg Burk - Many Worlds (2010)

Source: Something Else!

By Mark Saleski Several years ago, I happened upon a book called A Pattern Language. It was an odd purchase for me, because I'm not really an architecture person, at least not in the grand “Oooh, majestic building!" sense of the word. No, I was drawn to the book because the architectural patterns drawn and discussed—layouts of rooms, alcoves, gathering places, neighborhoods, cities—made a lot of sense to me and seemed to somehow appeal to my music-loving side. Thinking about ...

83

Recording

Greg Burk's "Ivy Trio" Now Available on 482 Music

Greg Burk's "Ivy Trio" Now Available on 482 Music

Source: Improvised Communications

482 Music is proud to announce the November 13th release of Rome-based pianist/composer Greg Burk's latest CD, Ivy Trio (482-1038), featuring bassist Jonathan Robinson and drummer Luther Gray. This is Burk's third release on the label in as many years and the one he calls “the most complete expression of my ideas with regards to composition and group conception to date." Ivy Trio documents six Burk originals, including re-imaginings of four previously recorded tracks, plus an interpretation of Charlie Parker's ...

86

Recording

Pianist Greg Burk's First Solo CD Coming in June on 482 Music

Pianist Greg Burk's First Solo CD Coming in June on 482 Music

Source: All About Jazz

On June 6th, 482 Music will release Rome-based pianist/composer Greg Burk's solo piano debut, The Way In (482-1048).

Burk's fourth outing as a leader in as many years further documents his trademark synergy of freedom and structure. The all-original program features reinterpretations of previously composed works, organically developed free improvisations and explorations of the non-traditional sound potential of the piano.

“Burk's seemingly paradoxical ability to sound both considered and unfettered is a marvel," wrote AllAboutJazz.com Senior Editor John Kelman of ...

87

Recording

482 Music To Release Greg Burk Trio's Nothing, Knowing August 23rd

482 Music To Release Greg Burk Trio's Nothing, Knowing August 23rd

Source: All About Jazz

AVON, CT -- 482 Music is proud to announce the August 23rd release of the Greg Burk Trio's Nothing, Knowing (482-1037), featuring the renowned rhythm section team of electric bassist Steve Swallow and drummer/percussionist Bob Moses. The Rome-based pianist/composer's 482 Music debut, and follow-up to his first two well-received recordings as a leader on Italy's legendary Soul Note label, continues his documentation of an increasingly personal sound forged by a penchant for memorable melodies as well as probing improvisation.

“This ...

124

Recording

Greg Burk Quartet's Carpe Momentum (Soul Note) Coming Oct. 12th

Greg Burk Quartet's Carpe Momentum (Soul Note) Coming Oct. 12th

Source: All About Jazz

ROME, ITALY -- Pianist/composer Greg Burk is proud to announce the October 12th release of Carpe Momentum, the debut release from his quartet and his second as a leader on Italy's legendary Soul Note label. Burk's latest ensemble features him leading frequent collaborators, including renowned Boston-based tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi and in-demand New York drummer Gerald Cleaver, through his trademark excursions between memorable original melodies and the spontaneity of free improvisation.

“You need to take the time to listen to ...

90

Recording

Soul Note Releases Greg Burk Trio Debut "Checking In" September 17th

Soul Note Releases Greg Burk Trio Debut "Checking In" September 17th

Source: All About Jazz

BOSTON, MA - On Tuesday, September 17th, the internationally renowned Soul Note label will release Boston-based pianist, composer and Berklee College of Music educator Greg Burk's first trio recording, Checking In, featuring New York bassist Jon Robinson and percussion legend Bob Moses. Checking In features ten original tracks that range from seductive melodies to free composed tone poems, all meant to utilize not only Burk's range of composing and playing experience, but the specific personalities and abilities of each musician ...

140

Recording

Soul Note Releases Greg Burk Trio Debut September 17th

Soul Note Releases Greg Burk Trio Debut September 17th

Source: All About Jazz

CONTACT: Scott Menhinick, Media Relations for Mr. Burk Improvised Communications (781) 893-9424 [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 21, 2002

SOUL NOTE RELEASES GREG BURK TRIO DEBUT SEPTEMBER 17TH BOSTON, MA -- On Tuesday, September 17th, the internationally renowned Soul Note label will release Boston-based pianist, composer and Berklee College of Music educator Greg Burk's first trio recording, Checking In, featuring New York bassist Jon Robinson and percussion legend ...

"...a pianist with a gift for melody and a generous touch that makes you want to like him..."
—LA Weekly

"Burk's touch on the piano remains confident and even, his statements being made with proficiency and concision and without overstatement."
—Cadence

"With this release, Burk displays a penchant for pursuing lushly melodic themes interspersed with a distinct sense of poise to complement his altogether laudable faculties. Simply put, there's a lot of goodness going on here, as the pianist bobs, weaves, and dances atop the rhythm section's bouncy swing grooves. Listeners can look forward to hearing more from this exceptional pianist/ composer."
—All Music Guide

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