Gregory Simmons

One of the more elusive and undiscovered talents of the jazz/fusion genre, guitarist/bassist and writer Gregory Simmons was born in New York on January 7, 1955. He has been writing and performing since the early 1970's, his first band being a fusion group called ?Mainstream.? Based in Rochester, NY, this band played venues throughout the Northeast, and was the opening act for groups such as ?Canned Heat? and ?NRBQ?. Mainstream also performed at the Tralfamadore Caf?, a jazz club in Buffalo, NY, where Gregory earned the praise of Motown legend Wilson Pickett.

Gregory left the stage in the late 1970's to travel throughout the US and Caribbean to research and explore the roots of different genre's of music, such as Latin, Caribbean folk and the blues.

His research eventually led him to settle in South Florida in 1984, where he began performing again in a number of area bands. During this period, he crossed paths with musicians such as jazz guitarist Randy Bernsen and bassist Jaco Pastorius, among others.

Gregory currently resides in the Finger Lake region of New York, where he writes and performs. His most recent CD release, ?Signs of Life?, combines the talents of Dave Hanlon on drums, Edgar Pagan on 6-string bass, Lisa Alibrandi on vocals and Rick Parente on percussion, with Gregory playing guitar and bass. He also writes music and plays several instruments for area theater productions, most recently for a series of plays performed at the Auburn Public Theater, in Auburn, NY.