Gregg August
Gregg August
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Double Bass
- Website: greggaugust.com
Bassist and composer Gregg August's work spans the classical, avant-garde, jazz, and Latin jazz worlds, making him one of the most versatile musicians on the scene today. Formerly the Principal Bass of La Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona and the Brooklyn Philharmonic, August plays regularly with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, and American Composers Orchestra. As a jazz bassist, he is a member of the JD Allen Trio, with whom he has recorded nine albums, as well as Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, with whom he has won five GRAMMY awards. August has also performed and/or recorded with the New York Philharmonic, Steve Reich, The Bang on a Can All Stars, and Alarm Will Sound as well as Ornette Coleman, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, and Ray Barretto.
In 2003, he formed his own record label, Iacuessa Records, for which he has recorded three critically acclaimed albums of entirely original music: Four by Six (2012), One Peace (2007), and Late August (2005).
He has also written many full-length concert works, including Una Rumba Sinfonica, a commission from the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute, and EarShot, which was premiered by the Buffalo Philharmonic. His recent project is Dialogues on Race, a suite scored for large ensemble, including a 12-member jazz core, three vocalists, and strings. The work was recorded in early 2019 and is scheduled to be released in March 2020.
August is on the faculty at New York University and the University of Connecticut as well as the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASSMoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts.
He was on the Downbeat Magazine Critics' Rising Star Poll in 2017, 2015, and 2013. He received his degrees from the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School.
