Gregg Karukas

Gregg Karukas (born 1956) is a smooth jazz pianist from Bowie, Maryland who first gained notice in Washington, D.C., then moved to Los Angeles in 1982. He backed Melissa Manchester before he co-founded the Rippingtons in 1986. He experimented with drums, guitar, trumpet, and keyboards as a child, but it was not until his teens that he pursued music professionally as a pianist, having played with the Bowie High School Starliners big band. When he was sixteen, he owned one of the first Minimoog synthesizers.