Greg Ruby began playing swing and early jazz music while leading the bohemian life of a busker 25 years ago. He has since become a respected guitarist, teacher and author. Described as “Seattle’s premier hot jazz guitarist” by Earshot Jazz magazine, he has performed with Pearl Django, The Hot Club of San Francisco, Andy Stein, Dan Hicks, John Jorgenson, Frank Vignola, Howard Alden and The Tacoma Symphony Orchestra as well as leading numerous groups under his own name.
As part of Django Reinhardt renaissance of the early 2000’s, Greg co-foudned the seminal group Hot Club Sandwich and later joined Pearl Django. His rock-solid rhythm guitar propelled the group through multiple recordings and their debut performance at the legendary Festival Django Reinhardt in Samois-sur-seine, France. In 2010, he released a record of all original compositions inspired by the great Django, titled Look Both Ways, which reached #1 on the Roots Music Review radio chart. In 2016, he was awarded arts, heritage and cultural funding for Syncopated Classic– a project which unearthed, restored and recorded the lost compositions by the eminent 1920’s Seattle jazz icon Frank D. Waldron. The resulting record was awarded the “Northwest Jazz recording of the year” in 2017. His most recent record, Just Like That, celebrates the music of swing-era guitar maestro, Oscar Alemán with classic arrangements and original compositions.
He has taught at Django in June, DjangoFest NW, and is the Guitar Week Coordinator for the Swannanoa Gathering. He has authored the Pearl Django Play-Along Book Vol.1, Frank D. Waldron: Seattle’s Syncopated Classic, the Oscar Alemán Play-Along Songbook Vol. 1 and writes for Acoustic Guitar magazine.
In November 2019, Greg moved to New York City – just months before it shuttered due to COVID-19. At the onset of the pandemic, he took the A Train south to Rockaway Beach, NY, where he now lives, surfs, and continues to live a creative life composing, recording and teaching online guitar lessons. In 2021, he received funding from the Queens Council on the Arts and the New York City Artist Corp to create new “Surf Music.”
“Over the past 20 years, Greg Ruby has become a gem of the Pacific Northwest Jazz scene as a guitarist, composer, band-leader and music historian.”