Lloyd Gregory
An award-winning guitarist and composer, San Francisco based Lloyd Gregory is a well-established musician whose style is smooth, soulful, melodic, flowing and immediately charismatic. His extensive R&B roots add a distinct texture to his styling. Gregory is a master of both acoustic and electric guitar.
“Lloyd expertly fuses soul, pop and jazz, forging a hybrid that is both enjoyable and intellectually stimulating.” — Minor 7th: Acoustic Music Review
“I love Lloyd’s style as a musician. He is a sweet, warm guy, which comes out in his music. His music reminds me of a modern-day Wes Montgomery.” — the legendary Stanley Clarke
Lloyd on his influences: “Music is comprised of traditions, even when mixed with innovations — so, of course, every musician is building upon sounds that came before. I admire and respect those jazz guitarists, and I learned a lot from them. But my influences also include early soul innovators like Curtis Mayfield, many of the guitarists in the various Motown artists’ bands, and Ike Turner. Going even further, I have been inspired by rock’n’rollers from Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley through Hendrix to Eddie Van Halen. And on the other end of the spectrum I have been influenced by acoustic players who bridged jazz, Latin and classical — like Django Reinhardt, Bola Sete, Andres Segovia and Al De Meola. I never sat down and learned other guitarists’ solos from their albums. Instead, I studied the tools and language they were using.”
Stage and Studio: As a studio musician in Los Angeles, Gregory worked with legendary producer Richard Perry and played sessions with top musicians such as Klaus Voorman (The Beatles), Arthur Adams (B.B. King, Quincy Jones), Harvey Mason (Herbie Hancock, George Benson) and Joe Sample (The Crusaders). He has performed with Rodney Franklin, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Gerald Albright, Lenny Williams (Tower of Power), Freda Payne, The Dells, and Lowell Fulsom. Also as a session player Lloyd played on a Latin-jazz album by The Funky Aztecs.
Gregory has recorded with Martha Reeves, MC Smooth and Freddie Stewart (Sly & The Family Stone) . He has also played on several albums by upcoming blues artists including Zakiya Hooker (John Lee’s daughter), Sugarpie Desanto and Maxine Howard. In addition, Gregory studied under Warren Nunes and took a Masters Class Seminar from Barney Kessel.
As a solo artist, he has opened for Phoebe Snow, Norman Brown, Bobby Caldwell, Chaka Khan, Kenny “G”, Brian Culbertson, The Whispers, and Rachael Ferrell to name a few.