Oye Santana - Gez Kahan

Gez Kahan played his first gig as a 15 year old, and later played and wrote arrangements for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, before turning full-time pro in his early 20s. He has performed alongside names including Jimmy Page, Phil Collins and Marion Montgomery, in addition to countless recording sessions.

Gez’s experience runs the full gamut of popular music, from solo piano stints in high class restaurants to backing cabaret turns in a strip club, from dance bands to out and out rockers, and from writing and arranging original material to providing music for commercials and promotions. He’s been a top demonstrator at international trade shows and in stores for Roland (one of the world’s premier synthesizer companies), he’s taught music and he also writes about music. He founded the UK’s leading musical instrument trade paper, MI Pro, and is a regular correspondent for Pianist magazine.

All that acquired expertise amounts to the perfect groundwork for playing the diverse styles covered by the music of Carlos Santana – and for Gez, a Santana fan since he first heard him guesting with Al Kooper on Live Adventures (predating Santana’s eponymous first album), it’s the ideal gig.