Standard Roots

About the album

Guitarist Greg Chako’s 17th CD, Standard Roots, contains over 72 minutes of music, with an additional 23+ minutes of music included in the 4 ‘bonus tracks’ on the digital version of the album. The album represents a return to what Greg calls his “roots,” because it features the trio format of guitar, bass, and drums that he began his professional playing career with over 30 years ago.

From Greg

“I treasure my own song-writing above all else, but I have never tired of playing standards. The Great American Songbook is still popular, and given the quality writing of composers such as Porter, Arlen, Jobim, Kern, & Hammerstein, there is always ample opportunity to flex one’s improvisational chops with those songs.

After recording so many albums featuring my own compositions, this newest one is a return to the type of music I played at the outset of my career more than 30 years ago. It includes some of the same songs that we often play on local gigs today. There was no effort made to arrange or rehearse this music; we simply played what we felt like and recorded it all in one take.”

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