|
|
|
|
|
| Jeff Gill enjoying vacation on the Big Island of Hawaii |
I was born in California the same year that Disneyland opened - but I imagine
to somewhat less fanfare. As a young child I remember enjoying the music played in cartoons on Saturday mornings. THAT was
amazingly good-quality music. To this day it still amazes me when I hear that awesome jazz piano being played on Mr. Rogers'
neighborhood!
At the tender age of 8 years old I begged my Mom to
let me take piano lessons. The deal was, she said I could have the lessons ONLY if I was willing to go across the street every
day and faithfully practice at the neighbors' house. No problem! I started taking classical piano lessons from Mrs. Parmenter
and began preparing for my very first recital - where I eventually brought the house down (actually a tiny school cafeteria)
with a stirring rendition of "Dangerous Journey"!
In 1964
the Beatles hit America and like a million other kids I instantly wanted to play in a band and become a rock star. Fortunately,
I lived near an awesome musician named Larry Murphy who taught music lessons at Webb's Music Center in downtown Antioch. Mr. Murphy taught my buddies and I how to Rock-n-Roll and for about the next ten years
I played drums and piano in various bands, for every kind of low-budget event you can think of. We played pizza parlors "where
they served fun and also pizza", school dances, house parties, etc. - you name it we played it! The pay was low but that
didn't matter because we got to play and we learned how to perform and please an audience.
During
these years I also played percussion in school band. It's funny but when I think back to my junior high school days I
am still very proud of the fact that as an 8th grader I was chosen "Percussion Section Leader" over the big, "bad"
AND arrogant 9th graders. The following year as a freshman myself, I was chosen as the "Best Overall Musician" for
the whole school - which was the first time (and maybe only time) a drummer had received that top honor. Later on as a senior
in high school I was again honored to receive the "Most Dedicated Musician" award.
After
graduating high school I attended Los Medanos College where I studied under John Maltester and played drums and occasionally
piano in the award-winning LMC jazz band. After graduating from LMC I headed south to California State University Northridge,
which at the time was considered the top college music program in the state. After an intense series of "jury" auditions
I was humbled to be chosen over perhaps 50 other top college musicians as the "Principal Percussionist " for the
University Wind Ensemble. In 1978 I finished all classes necessary for a BA degree in music - and will get that diploma just
as soon as I play my 30 minute senior recital#$%^&!
Anyway,
in 1978 after college and marriage to the petite and still beautiful Anne Maureen Freni, I began playing music professionally.
I must say over the years I have been blessed to play with some truly great musicians including: Curtis Ohlson (Ray Charles,
Buddy Rich), Brett Bloomfield (Doobie Brothers, Starship), Larry Murphy (Mel Tillis, Dolly Parton), Mark Russo (Yellow Jackets,
Doobie Brothers, etc.), Mick Mestek (Tower Of Power), etc. In addition to playing with these many excellent musicians it has
also been my distinct pleasure to play at many exceptional Bay Area venues including: The Dean Lesher Performing Arts Center
in Walnut Creek, The Blackhawk Country Club in Danville, Tilden Park in Berkeley, The Grand Island Mansion on the Delta, The
Saint Francis Hotel in San Francisco, The Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, Disneyland in Southern California, etc., etc.
These days I am happy to be an accomplished jazz piano player who specializes
in providing elegant background music for fine dinning and other special occasions. In addition to performing by myself as
a solo pianist at the aforementioned events, I also enjoy playing in several different band configurations; including
a standard jazz trio with bass and drums,and a really good (and economical) jazz duo with sax player Malcolm Hunter.
My Duo with Malcolm actually sounds like a smooth jazz quartet.
Thats all for now!
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
