"I feel I have a mission and something to say,"
confides pianist Greg Spero and leader of Spirit Fingers. "It requires a
lot of digging and a lot of agony to get to the point where it can be said truly
and honestly." The forward-thinking and introspective pianist has been in
the woodshed with his electrifying quartet Spirit Fingers, who will make their
Shanachie Entertainment debut on March 16, 2018 with their explosive eponymously titled CD.
"We've been working on this for a year and a half, and have finally
captured where we are on this new recording. We've only scratched the
surface." The new CD promises to be
one of the highlights in jazz in 2018. A riveting collection of originals,
Spirit Fingers takes us on a glorious genre-bending excursion of free-wheeling
groove, unbridled swing, and rhythmic
fancy. Spero and company lock-in creating a thrilling soundscape and moments of
beautiful telepathic interplay that make the journey more than worth- while.
Spirit Fingers, formerly known as Polyrhythmic, has steadily been building a
fan base and has amassed (under their original name) more than 250,000 views on
YouTube. Spirit Fingers is pianist Greg Spero, Parisian bassist Hadrien Feraud
(John McLaughlin, Kamasi Washington, Chick Corea), Dallas drum prodigy drummer
Mike Mitchell (Stanley Clark, Christian McBride, Chrisette Michelle) and
Italian guitarist Dario Chiazzolino (Dave Liebman, Buika, Taylor Eigsti).
Shanachie VP of Jazz A&R Danny Weiss, who signed Greg
Spero, is a veteran jazz producer who has recorded some of the biggest names in
jazz. Weiss produced guitarist Larry Coryell's landmark album Spaces, featuring
John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitous and Billy Cobham. "When I
started out making jazz records in the late 60s and early 70s, there was a
great sense of adventure, innovation and excitement in the music. Since then,
some great music has been created, but that vitality and innovation has become
scarce," states Weiss. "When I heard Greg Spero and his band I felt
an excitement that I had not experienced in a long time. Not only is his
virtuosity on the highest level, but the passion, the sense of adventure and
innovation, and flat out groove are off the charts. Greg's music has reminded
me why I'm in this business!"
Greg Spero says, "I am excited every day to get better
at composing and playing within the context of this brilliant ensemble and to
reach the point where I can share it honestly with people who are interested to
take this journey with me." Recently Spero has been dividing his time
between Spirit Fingers and doing sound design and keyboards for Capital
electropop singer/songwriter Halsey. In 2014, Spero relocated to Los Angeles
and joined singer/songwriter Halsey's band just as she inked a deal with
Capitol Records. He has been an integral
part of Halsey's sound and success. Check out this recent review in The Los
Angeles Times that mentions Spero's work in the band. Most of the music
featured on Spirit Fingers evolved while
Spero was on the road with Halsey. "I started this music when I would go
back to the tour bus and compose every night after playing Halsey shows,"
shares Spero. "The music just kept evolving every night and I drew
inspiration from everything around me. We were on tour opening for The Weeknd
and I love The Weeknd, so some significant influence from that music filtered
into the compositions I was creating."
Born in Chicago, the son of two pianists, Spero began
working professionally with his father's blues band at 14. A year later he was
playing in the Chicago fusion band Bucket Shop with musicians twice his age.
The pianist cites two fellow Chicagoans as early influences: Robert Irving III,
who was one of his first musical mentors and Herbie Hancock. Spero has formed
close friendships with both pianists. Spero majored in music composition and
jazz piano performance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, known
for their renowned music composition program. He studied a wide range of
composition including classical, atonal, algorithmic and electronic music. Following college, Spero became a mainstay in
Chicago's creative music scene and also participated in a number of Hip Hop
projects in New York playing on tracks that featured Curren$y and Ski Beatz,
among others. Spero also had the good fortune to join the Buddy Rich Big Band,
where he performed with drummer Dave Weckl and met longtime Prince drummer John
Blackwell. He ended up working with John Blackwell's band for several years
after that. In January 2013, Spero
received the Best Jazz Entertainer award at the Chicago Music Awards. Last
Spring, Spero toured with the Miles Electric Band under the direction of Vince
Wilburn, Jr. and alongside the likes of Christian Scott and Darryl Jones, among
others.
There is an honesty and openness in Spirit Fingers' music
that is almost palpable. Greg Spero, who is a practicing Buddhist, concludes
"I want to explore a landscape of music that is uncharted. I want to use
the compass of music history and an intellectual understanding of the essence
of music to guide me into its center, where I can access something rare and
special that goes beyond the intellectual understanding and can only be brought
into this world from a spiritual grounding, with a human as its vessel."
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