Giacomo Gates (born September 14, 1950) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

vocalist.

Career

Gates was born and raised in Connecticut. His father was a classical violinist. He made his public debut as a vocalist at the age of six. Soon after, he picked up guitar. In his youth he listened to jazz stations broadcasting from New York City, learned about jazz from disc jockeys, and played along on guitar. When he was ten, he bought his first jazz album, ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' by Dave Brubeck. Between radio and his record collection, he listened to many of the biggest names in jazz. He took a particular interest in vocalists, such as

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

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. As he got older, he admired

Mose Allison Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to N ...

Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...

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, Mark Murphy,

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, and Joe Williams. After graduating from high school, he went to college but dropped out after a year. He found work on a road crew as a laborer, then drove dump trucks and heavier vehicles like bulldozers. Gates moved to Alaska to work on the Alaska Pipeline, intending to stay only a year but remaining for twelve. While performing at a jazz festival in Fairbanks, he was approached by

, who encouraged him to leave Alaska and pursue a singing career. In 1990, at the age of forty, he moved back to Connecticut. Five years later, he released his first album, ''Blue Skies'' ( DMP, 1995). Gates interprets jazz standards, practices

vocalese Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation. Definition Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...

, and is active in jazz education. He has taught at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

, the Hartford Conservatory of Music, and New Haven's Neighborhood Music School. In his singing he tries to copy the sounds of instruments, such as flutes, trombones, and drums.

Discography

* ''Blue Skies'' ( DMP, 1995) * ''Fly Rite'' (Sharp Nine, 1998) * ''Centerpiece'' (

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * Origin (comics), ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * The Origin (Buffy comic), ''The Origin'' (Bu ...

, 2004) * ''The Revolution Will Be Jazz: The Songs of Gil Scott-Heron'' (

Savant Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

, 2011) * ''Miles Tones'' (Savant, 2013) * ''Everything Is Cool'' (Savant, 2015) * ''What Time Is It?'' (Savant, 2017)

References

External links

Official site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, Giacomo Living people American jazz singers Vocalese singers Wesleyan University faculty Singers from Connecticut Jazz musicians from Connecticut 1950 births