Giacomo Gates

Giacomo Gates ( born 1950 in Connecticut ) is an American jazz singer and pianist.

Life and work

Giacomo Gates engages in his singing the vocalese technique, which among other things was introduced by Eddie Jefferson early 60s, when he sang bebop solos. He has performed with six years on the public, took lessons in tap dancing learned, with eight years guitar and sang at weddings the songs of the Great American Songbook. After high school he attended college, then an engineering school one year. His professional career began as assembly workers, including to pipelines in Alaska; he then lived twelve years in Washington State and Arizona. As encouraged him at a workshop in Fairbanks Sarah Vaughan to turn back to the song, he finally returned to his home state of Connecticut and appeared in the New York area. Under the impression of classic jazz recordings he developed early 90s an instrument similar vocal style, which adjoins his models Eddie Jefferson, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Mose Allison, Joe Williams, Al Hibbler, Babs Gonzales and others. Helen Keane then produced his first album in 1995, in which he was accompanied by a rhythm section of Harold Danko, Rufus Reid and Akira Tana. In 2002, he became involved in a run by Eddie Landsberg tribute album Remembering Eddie Jefferson. In New York he performed accompanied by bassist Steve LaSpina.

In 2012 he was awarded the Rising Star Award from the critics polls of Down Beat.

Disco Graphical Notes

• Blue Skies (DMP, 1995)
• Fly Rite ( Sharp Nine, 1998)
• Centerpiece ( Origin, 2004)
• Luminosity ( AAO, 2008)
• The Revolution Will Be Jazz: The Songs of Gil Scott -Heron (2011)