Greg Chako

Guitarist and entrepreneur Greg Chako followed an unconventional route to establish himself as a working musician, composer, and entertainment promoter. He started guitar lessons at age ten and placed second the following year in a contest run by the American Guild of Music, which later led to a scholarship at Berklee School of Music and a spot on the dean’s list. After three years there he relocated to New York, took jobs in restaurant kitchens, and discovered an aptitude for culinary work. While employed as a chef in Amherst, Massachusetts, he continued performing in the hotel lounge attached to the kitchen where he cooked. In Amherst he also revealed a knack for promotion by staging jazz concerts and festivals that featured artists such as Slide Hampton and Bill Hardman.

Once back in his native Cincinnati he taught lessons, led a band, and worked as a booking agent, opportunities that again brought him onstage with players including Herb Ellis and Jimmy Raney. Returning to New York, he turned to composing yet was soon sidelined for long stretches by carpal tunnel syndrome. Marriage to a woman from Asia eventually carried him to Hong Kong, where Tai Chi exercises reduced the wrist pain enough for regular performances to resume. In 1994 he settled in Singapore and secured a steady engagement at Raffles, one of the city’s landmark venues.

At the same time he launched Chako Productions PTE to handle a broad range of promotional and production services. Since 1994 he has issued five albums under his own name; the first three concentrated on standards and outside material, while Integration (2000) and Integration II (2001) showcased his own inventive writing. Amid these performing and business commitments he has also established local chapters of Adult Children of Alcoholics in Singapore.