Greg Boyer is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 trombonist known for performing with many successful R&B and funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 bands.

Born in Washington, DC, Boyer grew up in Bryans Road, Maryland

Bryans Road, Maryland

Bryans Road is a census-designated place in Charles County, Maryland, United States. Bryans Road was named after Oliver Norris Bryan, a 19th century farmer and scientist who owned and operated Locust Grove Farm near Marshall Hall, Maryland. The area consisted mostly of tobacco farms until the...

. An avid music lover at an early age, his first steps into the world of playing music were on alto saxophone

Alto saxophone

The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...

 at the age of 10. By the time he graduated from Lackey High School, he could play any and every instrument in the band. Although his primary focus was classical tuba

Tuba

The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...

, he was already playing gigs on tenor saxophone

Tenor saxophone

The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...

 with local R&B and funk bands.

Switching to trombone

Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

 in his freshman year at St. Mary's College (Maryland) for his off-campus engagements, he left school after his third semester and joined Parliament/Funkadelic  in 1978. He played with them until his retirement from the group in 1996, along the way also playing with Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers between tours.

After a couple of years playing and arranging for local Washington, DC groups, he hit the road again with funky sax legend Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones...

. In 2002 after being recommended to Prince by Maceo, he got a call from Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

 to join his NPG Band, with whom he served for several years as trombonist/horn arranger. Along with the aforementioned, the list of artists/groups he has recorded and played with reads as follows: Sheila E, Bootsy Collins

Bootsy Collins

William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...

, Gap Band

Gap Band

The Gap Band was an American funk band, who rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. Comprising brothers Charlie, Ronnie and Robert Wilson, the band first formed as the Greenwood, Archer and Pine Street Band in 1967 in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The group shortened its name to The Gap Band...

, Stanley Clarke

Stanley Clarke

Stanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores...

, George Duke

George Duke

George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...

, David Sanborn

David Sanborn

David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...

, Hank Williams, Jr, Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...

, Kid Rock

Kid Rock

Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...

, Alex Bugnon

Alex Bugnon

Alex Bugnon is a jazz pianist and composer from Montreux, Switzerland.Bugnon studied at the Paris Conservatory and the Mozart Academy in Salzburg. At age nineteen, he moved to the U.S...

, Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy

George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...

, Brian Culbertson

Brian Culbertson

Brian Culbertson is a musician and instrumentalist from Decatur, Illinois, United States. Son of jazz band director and trumpeter Jim Culbertson, Brian's instruments include the keyboard and trombone....

, Maysa, Steve Tyler, Mike Phillips

Mike Phillips

Mike Phillips may refer to:* Mike Phillips * Mike Phillips * Mike Phillips * Mike Phillips , Montana State Representative...

, RAD. Richard Smallwood

Richard Smallwood

Richard Smallwood is an American Gospel music artist who formed The Richard Smallwood Singers in 1977 in Washington, DC.-Biography:...

, Third World

Third World

The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...

, Israel Vibration

Israel Vibration

Israel Vibration is a reggae harmony trio, originating from Kingston, Jamaica. Lascelle "Wiss" Bulgin, Albert "Apple Gabriel" Craig, and Cecil "Skelly" Spence all overcame childhood polio, and went on to be one of the most successful roots groups to form in Jamaica in the late 1970s...

, Patra

Patra (singer)

Patra is a reggae singer. In her beginnings as a Female Dancehall deejay in the late 1980s, she used the stage name, Lady Patra...

, Crystal Waters

Crystal Waters

Crystal Waters is an American dance music singer and songwriter.-Childhood and young adult life:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Waters is the daughter of Betty and Junior Waters, a famed jazz musician; her great aunt, Ethel Waters, was one of the first African-American vocalists to appear in...

, Dog Eat Dog

Dog Eat Dog (band)

Dog Eat Dog, an American band originally from Bergen County, New Jersey, began in 1990 as part of the hardcore music scenes of New York City and New Jersey. With members now scattered through New Jersey, Washington D.C. and Europe, the band now refers to themselves as being based out all three areas...

 Naif Herin and countless others.

Greg Boyer has 3 children in the DC metropolitan area. Adrian Boyer-Frostburg University alum, Amanda Boyer -University of Maryland alum, and Aja Boyer, currently attending University of Maryland. He lives in Columbia, Maryland with his wife Dana Addison, married September 20, 2003.

External links: Interview with Greg Boyer on Liberation Frequency
http://www.liberationfrequency.co.uk/greg-boyer-interview/