Biography
Gregg Karukas has earned recognition as a keyboardist of remarkable productivity whose polished contemporary jazz draws from Brazilian traditions alongside New Age, R&B, and pop. One of the musicians who helped form the Rippingtons, he later built an independent following by landing multiple releases inside the Top 20 of Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart—Blue Touch in 1998, Looking Up in 2005, and GK in 2009 among them. Session and project work also connected him with crossover figures such as Kirk Whalum, Dori Caymmi, and Craig Chaquico. A 2013 partnership with pianist Omar Akram yielded the album Echoes of Love, for which the pair shared the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album. Karukas returned to the upper reaches of the contemporary jazz rankings in 2014, reaching the Top Ten with Soul Secrets, and in 2021 he issued Serenata, his debut collection devoted entirely to solo piano and shaped by Brazilian themes.
Born in Baltimore in 1956, Karukas began piano lessons at age six and briefly explored drums, trumpet, and guitar before committing to keyboards. During his teenage years he pursued private study and started performing professionally on organ in R&B ensembles. At seventeen he joined Tim Eyermann and the East Coast Offering for a five-year engagement and also worked as a studio musician in Washington, D.C., before relocating to Los Angeles in 1983. There he quickly became a sought-after sideman and session player, appearing with Ronnie Laws, David Benoit, Richard Elliot, Grant Geissman, Melissa Manchester, and others. In 1986 he became a founding member of the crossover jazz ensemble the Rippingtons alongside guitarist Russ Freeman, contributing to the group’s breakthrough Top Five jazz debut, Moonlighting.
Karukas simultaneously fronted his own ensembles, one of which included a young Dave Koz. Under the name Karukas he released his first solo album, The Nightowl, in 1987, followed by Key Witness in 1990, Sound of Emotion in 1992, and Summerhouse in 1993. The 1995 set You’ll Know It’s Me included contributions from saxophonist Boney James and guitarist Ricardo Silveira. Wider attention arrived with 1998’s Blue Touch, which entered the Top 20 of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart; Nightshift followed in 2000 and Heatwave in 2002. Looking Up returned him to that Top 20 in 2005. Additional studio work during this period involved Kirk Whalum, Brian Bromberg, Dori Caymmi, Peter White, Phil Sheeran, Craig Chaquico, Jonathan Butler, and Rick Braun. In 2006 he rejoined Freeman and the Rippingtons for their 20th Anniversary album, and he participated in Richard Smith’s 2008 L.A. Chillharmonic project.
GK reached number six on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart in 2009. Alongside saxophonists Jessy J and Vincent Ingala, Karukas co-wrote, produced, and arranged two albums with pianist Omar Akram, among them the 2013 release Echoes of Love that captured the Grammy for Best New Age Album. Soul Secrets peaked at number eight on the contemporary jazz chart in 2014. Serenata appeared in 2021 as Karukas’s first all-solo-piano recording, presenting original compositions together with interpretations of material by Brazilian artists Milton Nascimento, Clube da Esquina, and Dori Caymmi.
Born in Baltimore in 1956, Karukas began piano lessons at age six and briefly explored drums, trumpet, and guitar before committing to keyboards. During his teenage years he pursued private study and started performing professionally on organ in R&B ensembles. At seventeen he joined Tim Eyermann and the East Coast Offering for a five-year engagement and also worked as a studio musician in Washington, D.C., before relocating to Los Angeles in 1983. There he quickly became a sought-after sideman and session player, appearing with Ronnie Laws, David Benoit, Richard Elliot, Grant Geissman, Melissa Manchester, and others. In 1986 he became a founding member of the crossover jazz ensemble the Rippingtons alongside guitarist Russ Freeman, contributing to the group’s breakthrough Top Five jazz debut, Moonlighting.
Karukas simultaneously fronted his own ensembles, one of which included a young Dave Koz. Under the name Karukas he released his first solo album, The Nightowl, in 1987, followed by Key Witness in 1990, Sound of Emotion in 1992, and Summerhouse in 1993. The 1995 set You’ll Know It’s Me included contributions from saxophonist Boney James and guitarist Ricardo Silveira. Wider attention arrived with 1998’s Blue Touch, which entered the Top 20 of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart; Nightshift followed in 2000 and Heatwave in 2002. Looking Up returned him to that Top 20 in 2005. Additional studio work during this period involved Kirk Whalum, Brian Bromberg, Dori Caymmi, Peter White, Phil Sheeran, Craig Chaquico, Jonathan Butler, and Rick Braun. In 2006 he rejoined Freeman and the Rippingtons for their 20th Anniversary album, and he participated in Richard Smith’s 2008 L.A. Chillharmonic project.
GK reached number six on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart in 2009. Alongside saxophonists Jessy J and Vincent Ingala, Karukas co-wrote, produced, and arranged two albums with pianist Omar Akram, among them the 2013 release Echoes of Love that captured the Grammy for Best New Age Album. Soul Secrets peaked at number eight on the contemporary jazz chart in 2014. Serenata appeared in 2021 as Karukas’s first all-solo-piano recording, presenting original compositions together with interpretations of material by Brazilian artists Milton Nascimento, Clube da Esquina, and Dori Caymmi.
Albums
