Jazz Round Table #1 – Michael O’Neill, Gregg Karukas, and Michael Paulo

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Welcome to the first Episode! This week’s guests are guitarist Michael O’Neil, keyboardist Gregg Karukas, and saxophonist Michael Paulo!

In this episode we talk about the musicians’ practice/creative time, stories about people they’ve worked for, advice for the road, and more.

Michael O’Neill – Guitarist/Composer – Has toured with George Benson and Barbara Streisand for years. He’s worked with Al Jarreau, Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Natalie Cole amongst many other greats! He is also a TV/Film composer. The first tune he performs is Funky Fiesta from his album Once in Brazil. He also performs a solo guitar piece.

Gregg Karukas is a Grammy Award winning musician. He was a founding member of The Rippingtons, and has played with Dori Caymmi and Larry Carlton and others. He tells us a story about his first recording session which was with the naturalist Ewell Gibbons!

Gregg talks about his upcoming solo piano album “Serenata.” Check out the preview Here!

The first song Gregg performs is The Girl in the Red Dress which is one of his biggest hits. He also does a solo piano improvisation which turns into a well known Milton Nascimento tune called Ponte de Areia

Michael Paulo – sax player and composer has played with Bobby Caldwell, Jeffrey Osborne, and Miles Davis among others. He tells a great story about recording a few tracks for Miles! We play a few clips from a recent Pay-Per-View live-stream broadcast he performed late last year.

The Song Michael talkes about in his Miles story is Give It Up from the album Rubber Band. Here it is on Apple Music

Gregg Karukas – Keyboards
Performed with: The Dave Hill Group 10/15/20, Socially Distant Jazz Round Table #3 1/21/21, Jazz Round Table #01b 3/9/21, One-Year Anniversary All-Star Jam Extravaganza 6/19/21, Dave Hill Group – 7/8/21 Bio – Grammy winning producer/keyboardist/composer Gregg Karukas (www.karukas.com) has many #1 hits from his 12 solo CDs that show his signature piano touch. A prolific, genre-crossing veteran of Smooth Jazz, Brazilian, and R&B/Pop, Gregg was a founding member of The Rippingtons in 1986 and has toured with Boney James, Dave Koz, Larry Carlton, Dori Caymmi, Ricardo Silveira, Sergio Mendes, Peter White, Rick Braun, Shelby Flint, Melissa Manchester, Alphonse Mouzon, Brenda Russell, Jeffrey Osborne and various Allstar groups in recent years.   – Gregg won the Grammy in 2013 for producing, composing, playing all keyboards, arranging….and engineering the Best New Age Album (Echoes of Love). – helped launch Dave Koz Music Cruises in 2011 as Musical Director – Gregg’s group was the house band for It’s Garry Shandling’s Show on Showtime. – Gregg arranged and played the theme songs to Disney’s Ducktales and Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers; played keys on Rockwell’s Gold Album “Somebody’s Watching Me” Trivia: Gregg’s very first LP session at age 18 was for naturalist/author Euell Gibbons, improvising background Moog Synthesizer textures along with Tim Eyermann’s echoing woodwinds for Gibbons’ readings of the work of Henry David Thoreau, a collector’s item that can occasionally be found on eBay. World famous guitar maker, Paul Reed Smith of PRS Guitars and Gregg grew up together and jammed in Bowie, MD.; the same community that produced icons Eva Cassidy and Kathie Lee Gifford and Space Shuttle astronaut Ricky Arnold....MORE INFO!

Michael O’Neill – Guitar
Performed with: Jazz Round Table #01b 3/9/21, Michael O’Neil Trio 4/29/21, One-Year Anniversary All-Star Jam Extravaganza 6/19/21, Nick Gomez Quartet 7/1/21, Nick Gomez Quartet 8/26/21 Bio – Michael O’Neill’s services as a guitarist and vocalist have been called upon at the highest levels of the music industry for over 30 years.Starting with his first tour of the U.S. and Europe on the Crusaders “Street Life” tour to his ongoing work with George Benson and Barbra Streisand,Michael has played on hundreds of recordings,worked on dozens of World tours,recorded 5 solo cd’s,made numerous television and video appearances,provided hundreds of titles for background music sources.Working with George Benson since 1981,Michael has appeared on “The Best of Benson Live”,George Benson and Al Jarreau cd “Givin it Up”,Benson’s “Absolute Live”and “Live in Montreux 1986″ dvd’s and served as an Associate Producer on Benson’s most recent cd,”Songs and Stories”.Michael has recently entered the arena of television composers as his music can be heard on ” The Real Housewives of Miami”,”The Real Husbands of Hollywood”,”Pregnant in Heels”,”Miss Advised”,”Million Dollar Listing”,”Brooklyn Big Style”,”Wicked Tuna”,Food Paradise” and a growing list of new productions.With his extensive and varied experiences at the top level of the music industry Michael has a huge pallette of styles and colors to draw from which result in a unique compositional voice. Artists Worked With: Barbra Streisand George Benson Stevie Wonder Al Jarreau Natalie Cole The Crusaders Rickie Lee Jones Aretha Franklin Michael McDonald Kenny Loggins John Legend Joe Sample Hubert Laws Ronnie Laws KD Lang John Anderson Dr John Earth Wind and Fire Vince Gill Brad Paisley Al Green Ruben Studdard Gato Barbieri Sadao Watanabe Jason Mraz Michael Buble Phil Perry Kirk Whalum Rick Braun Boney James Sheila E. Marcus Miller Chaka Khan Dave Koz Carl Anderson John Lee Hooker Earl Klugh Eddie Murphy Manhattan Transfer Randy Crawford Bobby Caldwell Buddy Guy Ivan Lins Tonhinho Horta Donny Osmond Jaime Cullum Nancy Wilson Kenny Lattimore Roberta Flack Patti Austin Robert Mitchum Richard Elliot Jonathan Butler Wayman Tisdale Gregg Karukas Freddie Ravel Arturo Sandoval The Fowler Brothers Heather Headley Wayne Brady Freda Payne Robert Randolph Sarah McLachlan Arthur Blythe...MORE INFO!

Michael Paulo – Sax
Performed with: Jazz Round Table #01 3/2/21 Bio – One of the most versatile and cosmopolitan saxophonists in pop, soul and contemporary jazz for nearly 35 years, Michael Paulo has added his distinct saxpertise to a virtual who’s who of artists, including Al Jarreau (Paulo’s longest term touring association), James Ingram, No. 1 Smooth Jazz Trumpeter and guitarist Rick Braun and Peter White, Oleta Adams, Kenny Loggins, Patti Austin, Jeffrey Osborne, Jeff Lorber, David Benoit, Carl Anderson, Bobby Caldwell, Johnny Mathis and more. Another Milestone in Michael’s Career is his recent appearance on a previously unreleased Miles Davis record that was recorded in 1986 . The unheard tracks were recorded prior to his release TUTU. The record was released Sept 6th 2020 and reached the number 1 status on the billboard jazz charts in its first week. Paulo grew up in a musical family (his father a pianist, his mother a singer, his siblings all playing instruments) and though he came upon the sax relatively late at age 15, he quickly became first horn player in his high school band and was playing professional gigs around the islands within a few years. Rather than accept a scholarship to North Texas State, he chose a more adventurous road by joining Hawaiian pop/rock band Kalapana, which had some success on the mainland but was most popular in Japan. After playing regularly and recording on all four of Kalapana’s albums from 1975 through 1979, Paulo recorded a solo album for Japanese release on Trio records. In addition to exposing him to the Japanese jazz audience, Tats in the Rainbow gave him the opportunity to work with legendary pianist Herbie Hancock. Paulo moved to Los Angeles in 1981 and quickly established himself by playing with percussionist Ray Armondo and a local R&B outfit featuring members of Rufus. Two years later, he caught his big break when Al Jarreau hired him for his touring band. The young saxman became an integral part of the Jarreau experience while touring the world for the next decade. Paulo also gained international recognition as a result of his work on Jarreau’s famed “Live in London” release. In 1988 paulo recorded his first Major solo release One Passion on MCA records which was critically accliamed as one of the most influential recordings in contemporary Jazz. He has since released nine solo projects with the latest entitled “Songs” a compilation of his compositions over the years and featuring two new tracks. Michael Paulo’s reputation as the no. 1 Asian American Jazz artist continues with each new year. He has also toured extensively in the Far East performing for the Sultan of Brunei and the Royal Family of Thailand. Michael is also popular in Japan where he has performed with numerous well known Japanese artists over the years such as: Namie Amuro, Eikichi Yazawa, Anrie, Mari Ijima, Globe,Atsushi from Exile and more! A dynamic live performer Michael has constantly left his audiences wanting more. His emotive playing and endearing style has never failed to capture the hearts of his fans all over the world..Michael Paulo is has continued to build his status as one of the most dynamic saxophonist in the world.. Michael spent eight years as an artist in residence at one of the largest Music Festivals in the world The Java Jazz Festival . Michael also produced two festivals, the Temecula Wine and Music Festival and Pacific Rim Jazz Festival in Hawaii. His company Apaulo Productions is also involved in producing numerous Jazz concerts events in California and Hawaii. Michael has just completed his 11th solo project titled a Beautiful Day. With the help of his music friends such as Peter White , Paul Brown , David Benoit, Paul Jackson Jr, Freddie Washington ,Ray ParkerJr. and more , Michael has assembled a mix of popular covers and original songs. It’s been ten years since his last studio release and he’s back in true form and ready to highlight another phase of his career an artist. As he says, “Music is always going to evolve, and it’s up to the artist to respond gracefully to the changes. We don’t know what the music will sound like years from now, but no matter what, it will be based on what the people in the audience feel.”...MORE INFO!