Greg Burgess

Greg Burgess, songwriter, pianist, and vocalist, is the musical director of Burgess, Mitchell and Seal. His song stylings and boogie woogie piano licks will thrill and his tender delivery of a ballad will surprise and touch. His songwriting calls on both his musical and writing skills, and somewhere there in the middle, magic is produced.

He has a solo career and plays as well with his wife Fiddler Woman Beverly Conrad. Greg is a generous musician, active in the local music scene, always willing to sit in and lend another point of view to the music going on. Music is not his only creative expression: he has written a novel, several novellas, short stories and poetry. His work has been published in journals neotrope, gestalten and The Seed. You can see him on screen in his first movie, All is Normal, directed by Todd Bieber and Juliana Brafa.

Played With:

Joe Beard, Big Joe Turner, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Taj Mahal, Roy C.

Festivals:

Billtown Blues

Soundtrack Recording

Gettysburg: The Boys in Blue and Gray
The People's Bridge (including his composition: "Sans Souci.")

Awards

Joe Micklos's (of Billtown Blue Notes) top pick for Best Blues CD of 1999 I Am Not Alone

Reviews:

"Influenced by a myriad of blues and jazz performers, Mr. Burgess combines a unique blend of styles and techniques into his intricate melodies, drawing from … Chicago and Delta blues, boogie woogie, swing, pop, funk and Latin jazz — all form a backdrop from which he draws inspiration. His musical style is a combination of 'the greats' Such as Memphis Slim James Booker, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole — all echo in the form his playing takes on."
— Jeffrey Federowicz, The Daily Item

"His piano playing style brings to life his feel for the music. Tapping feet and a steady scat line support a masterful sense of phrasing that drops through his fingers and lands on those keys right on time. Heavily influenced by Jazz artists, Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett and Thelonius Monk and bluesmen Otis Spann and Roosevelt Sykes (to name a few), Burgess proves that he paid attention. He'll get your fingers tapping to Peterson's "Night Train," your feet tappingto Ray Charles' "Messing Around," and he'll have you out on the dance floor on the first few bars of "Mustang Sally," Then he'll sit you back down and with a voice reminiscent of backwater bars and old recordings, slide into Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin'," or make you laugh with a Louis Jordan tune … Burgess is also an accomplished songwriter, ask him to play "Big Brown Panther" or "Route 61" …"
— Annie Clark, The One