Greg Osby

Born in St. Louis on August 3, 1960, Greg Osby is a talented sax player. He studied music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and Howard University in Washington, D.C.

In early 83, Osby moved to New York, In what he calls his "apprenticeship period" Osby played with Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, McCoy Tyner and Lester Bowie.

"In addition to cutting my teeth with several persons that I admired and respected a great deal, in order to supplement my income I moonlighted on alternate weekends uptown and in Brooklyn performing with a host of ethnic ensembles. These groups opened me up to unlimited possibilities that weren't normally represented in the music that I was accustomed to hearing. In these groups, which consisted of Reggae, Salsa, Soca, Calypso, and other ethnic presentations, I, being the only so-called "Jazz guy" was forced to conform and deal with their music respectfully and on it's own terms. Those experiences dramatically influenced my universal views concerning beat and rhythm".

In 1984 Osby joined with Steve Coleman to assemble a new band. This group, known as the M-BASE Collective functioned as a floating ensemble with many participants. Among others involved were Geri Allen, piano; Cassandra Wilson, vocals; Graham Haynes, trumpet and cornet, Osby and Coleman; alto saxophones; Robin Eubanks; trombone, Vernon Reid; guitar, Kevin Bruce Harris, bass, Terri Lyne Carrington and Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums.

"This was an incredibly fruitful time, as we were led to discovery on a daily basis - benefitting from one another's knowledge and experiences. Our personal and unified growth progressed by leaps and bounds".

Osby also became a member of Jack DeJohnette's group Special Edition. These days he leads his own group which records on Blue Note records and has sat in with all sorts of musicians from Phil Lesh and Friends to Von Freeman and Herbie Hancock.

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