Greg Spero

Bitter Jester Music Festival Judge

Greg Spero is a pianist from Highland Park, IL. He has toured with Halsey and the Miles Davis Electric Band and has composed music for film and television. He leads the jazz band Spirit Fingers.

Spero's mother was a classical pianist and his father was a blues pianist. When he was fourteen, he joined his father's band. He also worked with Frank Catalano, Buddy Rich, and Robert Irving III.

His album Radio Over Miles (2010) is a combination of Miles Davis and Radiohead. The album was nominated for Best Jazz Album at the Chicago Music Awards. Spero's album Live in Toronto is "sold" at a karmic price; the download is available for free in exchange for karma. "Purchasers" have to check a box agreeing to complete four karmic transactions to include giving "five random smiles to people on the street, regardless of age, sex, or looks." His album Acoustic (2011) is in a piano trio setting.

Although he has composed and performed jazz, his interest in other styles afforded him opportunities to record with Ski Beatz, Shock G, and American rapper Murs. Spero has also written songs with Darryl Jones. He composed music for the Feltre Theater performances of Eugène Ionesco's Exit the King, two Tennessee Williams one-act plays, and for the film The Perfect Breakup.

He has performed with Arturo Sandoval, Corey Wilkes, and co-produced tracks with Ski Beatz (of Jay Z) and Shock G.