Gust William Tsilis

Gust William Tsilis, whose name is pronounced chill-us, entered the world on Chicago’s South Side on April 14, 1961. Although he performs on piano and guitar, he is recognized above all as a vibraphonist and marimba player. Among the artists who shaped his earliest musical outlook he lists Clifford Brown, Milt Jackson, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Samuel Barber, Mahalia Jackson, and Maria Callas.

He spent a short time in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he enrolled at Huron High School, then returned to the Chicago area to attend Reavis High School in Burbank, Illinois, before earning his diploma from Rich East High in Park Forest. Another brief stay in Ann Arbor preceded his enrollment at the Berklee School of Music in Boston; from there he relocated to New York City, where he remained for sixteen years. Although he had already played piano and various percussion instruments, Tsilis did not take up mallet instruments until 1985.

Shortly after arriving in New York in the mid-eighties, he formed a connection with alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, who became both mentor and frequent collaborator. He also admired Elvin Jones, from whom he received guidance. Tsilis issued his debut album, Pale Fire, in 1986, featuring Blythe alongside Horacee Arnold and Anthony Cox. Additional artists with whom he has collaborated encompass John Abercrombie, Joe Lovano, Billy Hart, Tim Berne, Lindsey Horner, Joey Baron, Herb Robertson, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Karl Denson, Pee Wee Ellis, Peter Madsen, Lonnie Plaxico, Uri Caine, Cecil Brooks III, and Terri Lyne Carrington.

Between 1986 and 1999 he devoted considerable effort to developing and managing Visiones, a progressive jazz club in New York. He later served as an A&R representative for Enja Records, helping Matthias Winckelmann sign and record artists; in that capacity he discovered and produced prominent singer Kevin Mahogany en route to the vocalist’s rise to major stardom. While at Enja, Tsilis also produced sessions for Maria Schneider, Art Taylor, Jonny King, and Abraham Burton, and he oversaw roughly forty CDs for Japan’s short-lived Ken label.

After relocating to Los Angeles, he began creating music for commercial clients such as Jenny Craig, Nationwide, and UCLA. He has additionally composed film scores and orchestral arrangements, written songs with lyrics, prepared ensemble charts, and created works for solo instruments including piano, flute, viola, violin, cello, English horn, and clarinet. Further credits include music for Fuel TV videos. He has pursued studies in orchestration with film composer Gernot Wolfgang and maintains a fully computerized studio equipped with state-of-the-art sampled sounds suited to orchestral, groove, and jazz contexts. Tsilis maintains his longstanding partnership with Arthur Blythe through concerts and club appearances on the West Coast while teaching himself to play the trumpet.