Greg Spero

Greg Spero functions as pianist, composer, arranger, producer, and head of his own imprint, representing a modern renaissance figure within the music business. At the helm of electric jazz ensemble Spirit Fingers, the group interweaves jazz-funk, post-bop, R&B, spiritual jazz, and electronica. Spero additionally directs the Tiny Room label and supplies original scores for film, television, and theater. His first release leading a piano trio arrived as the 2005 album Live in 25. GMG followed three years afterward, recorded alongside drummer Makaya McCraven and bassist Graham Czach. Radio Over Miles appeared in 2010. Acoustic came next in 2011, then Electric in 2014. Between 2014 and 2018 Spero toured as keyboardist and sound designer for pop singer Halsey. His electric jazz quartet Spirit Fingers issued a self-titled debut in 2018 before releasing Peace in 2020. The next year he guided the septet sessions that produced 2022’s Chicago Experiment, which also featured McCraven, Joel Ross, Marquis Hill, Jeff Parker, and Irvin Pierce.

Spero entered the world in Highland Park, Illinois, in 1985. Both parents worked as musicians: his mother performed classical piano while his father, likewise a pianist, navigated the blues and jazz circuits in Chicago and produced rock bands. Constantly surrounded by piano sounds as his mother rehearsed her pieces and his father occasionally played boogie woogie, Spero started picking out melodies at age three and soon mastered the instrument. He began composing songs while still in grade school.

At 14, Spero performed his initial professional engagements with his father’s band the SlackDaddies and sat in with visiting touring artists. During high school his band director introduced him to jazz, igniting an enduring passion for the style and an ongoing drive to test his musical limits. He studied at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, majoring in Jazz Piano Performance and Music Composition.

Following graduation Spero encountered Herbie Hancock at the Ravinia Festival. The legendary jazz artist served as mentor to the younger musician on both musical and spiritual levels, acquainting him with Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism. In 2002 Spero and his band Bucket Shop released the album Fossil Fuels in the House That Mouse Built, a forward-looking fusion of funk and jazz rock. Three years afterward he issued his debut piano trio recording Live in 25.

Spero performed and toured regularly with Chicago saxophonist Frank Catalano. He contributed to the leader’s live album The Mighty Burner, captured at the Green Mill in 2005. The following year Spero met Miles Davis’ nephew, keyboardist and music director Robert Irving III. That introduction led to their joint appearance on the latter’s New Momentum and established Spero as a preferred choice among visiting musicians. Two years later he recorded GMG with drummer Makaya McCraven and bassist Graham Czach.

In 2010 Spero delivered the quartet album Radio Over Miles, presenting his interpretive fusion of Radiohead material and Miles Davis’ electric jazz alongside bassist Junius Paul, McCraven, and trumpeter Corey Wilkes. A year later he returned the favor, appearing with Paul, drummer Kahil El’Zabar, and additional players on Wilkes’ Kind of Miles: Live at the Velvet Lounge. In 2012 the pianist issued the trio recording Acoustic on Blu Jazz, again with McCraven on drums and Matt Ulery on bass; the same rhythm section supported the follow-up Live in Toronto, taped at Trane Studio in Toronto.

After receiving the “Best Jazz Entertainer” honor at the 2013 Chicago Music Awards, Spero recorded the trio album Electric with Paul and McCraven. He relocated to Los Angeles to serve as pianist/keyboardist and sound designer for Halsey. Early club dates drew audiences of 50-80 people; by the time he departed they performed before 15,000 and appeared on Ellen, Late Night, and Saturday Night Live.

While working with Halsey, Spero began developing a new musical project. He assembled Polyrhythmic in 2015 with bassist Hadrien Feraud, drummer Mike Mitchell, and guitarist Dario Chiazzolino; after several performances the group adopted the name Spirit Fingers.

Spero parted ways with Halsey on amicable terms in 2018. Spirit Fingers tracked their self-titled debut at the pianist’s Tiny Room Studio in Los Angeles and issued it through Shanachie. The album earned strong praise from jazz critics for blending ’70s jazz fusion, electronics, 21st-century pop, and hip-hop, reaching number 11 on the jazz album charts. Two years later Spirit Fingers—now featuring bassist Max Gerl in place of Feraud—followed with Peace on Ropeadope. Along with the quartet, the set included guest vocalist Judi Jackson on four tracks plus saxophonists Greg Ward and Braxton Cook. It garnered critical acclaim extending to Europe and Japan and finished inside the Top 20.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic Spero launched weeBID, a fan-driven crowdfunding platform. His separate ongoing project Tiny Room Sessions presents a weekly series of recordings made in his Los Angeles studio. Digital singles drawn from those sessions have also appeared by artists including Transviolet, Lido, Terreon “Tank” Gully, Mono Neon, and others.

In 2021 Ropeadope revived its “experiment” recording series, previously represented by Philadelphia Experiment (2001), Detroit Experiment (2003), and Harlem Experiment (2007). The original concept gathered musicians tied to a given city to reflect its geography and populace through integration of its diverse musical traditions. The label enlisted Spero to lead sessions for Chicago Experiment. He assembled McCraven, trumpeter Marquis Hill, vibraphonist Joel Ross, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Darryl Jones, and tenor saxophonist Irvin Pierce as collaborators. The resulting 11-track collection appeared in February 2022, traversing jazz-funk, fusion, hip-hop, and post-bop; all participants co-composed the material and Spero served as producer.