Greg Dayton has been performing, recording and teaching in US and in Europe for over 25 years. In the summer of 2016 he was inducted as a “Great Blues Artist” into the New York Blues Hall of Fame.

 

He teaches electric and acoustic guitar, slide and finger-style, as well as piano, bass, ukelele, mandolin and harmonica as well as songwriting and music theory. His approach to teaching is to find and foster each individual’s strengths and passions musically and to provide them with the most practical information they need to begin to play and perform. He emphasizes the importance of music as a fun outlet at every level and great way to connect with family, friends and colleagues. He introduces the blues as the essential ingredient in in learning how to improvise in rock, jazz, bluegrass and many other styles.

 

Immediately after completing a B.A. at Harvard University, and the Guitar Performance program at Berklee College of Music, he began teaching blues ensembles and workshops at Berklee College’s International Network School in Barcelona, Spain while touring as a side man for ex-pat Texas Blues artist Loti Lewis, and later with his former spouse, Latin Soul artist Gemma Genazzano. After several years in Spain, where he was the mentor to many professional blues musicians, he returned to Massachusetts where he led the instrumental music program and blues/rock bands at the Belmont Hill School (grades 7-12) as well as a community music programs for younger children at the Transportation Children’s Center, the Spruce Street Nursery, and more.

 

Since 2002, he has resided in New York City where he has taught hundreds of students of all ages, running his own business with periodic collaborations with both private and public schools. He has also taught guitar workshops for employees at Time, Inc. and Home Box Office (HBO), while continuing his own career as a singer-songwriter, performing regularly at New York’s most notable venues. 

 

In it’s first summer 2011, Greg was co-creator and Program Director for the Catskill Jazz Factory, a non-profit organization dedicated to hosting residencies for Jazz artists, educational outreach, and providing Jazz concerts at venues in Greene, Ulster and Columbia counties. That flagship summer, working alongside Artistic Director Aaron Diehl (2014 Monterey Jazz Festival Commission Artist), the program was host to quick rising talent including Grammy nominated, Thelonius Monk Award Winner Jamison Ross, and Dominick Farinacci.