by Greg PratoGeorge McRae is a jazz pianist as well as the head of a record company, Affinity Jazz. Originally from Chicago, McRae began taking piano lessons at the age of ten, first studying classical before switching to jazz two years later. McRae eventually enrolled in Boston's acclaimed Berklee College of Music, where he studied with such teachers/recording artists as pianist Donald Brown and trumpeter Herb Pomeroy. Upon graduating, McRae returned back home to Chicago, where he began playing with a local jazz fusion outfit, Juggular, before landing gigs with such rock outfits as the Way Moves, Tami Show, and Michael McDermott. In addition to playing with others, McRae found the time to pen several compositions for dance-concert companies in both the U.S. and Europe, before returning back to his original love, jazz. While a member of his previous bands, McRae took note of how recording companies were run, and started up Affinity Jazz on his own in 1999. He issued a pair of solo releases, 2000's Lime Jello and 2001's Being Here, the latter of which saw McRae joined by bassist Alan Berliant and drummer Larry Beers.