Obituary for Gregory Bacchus
Gregory Ellsworth Bacchus was born in St. Vincent & the Grenadines on November 23, 1958. He was the 4th child of Jem and Creighton Bacchus.
Gregory attended the St. Vincent Grammar School. He chose music as his career; that was no surprise to his mother. She remembers that when he was in Grammar School she noticed that he began to pay more attention to playing the piano rather than to his school work. One day she said to him, "Greg, I see that you love music but you need to get a proper education. What would you like to do when you leave school?" Stomping his foot on the ground, he said, "Mommy, music, music, nothing but music."
Well, he never changed his mind. His parents sent him to music lessons and within a few weeks he refused to go back, saying that he didn't need any more music lessons because he could play on his own without a music book. This proved to be very true.
One of his school mates remarked; ‘Yes, Gregory was a great musician; we went to music lessons together and he would play the song once or twice from the book, then close the book and play it from his head.”
Other musicians also commented on his extraordinary ability to play complex chords from memory!
He moved to New York where he excelled in music and finally became a "Master Musician."
Most people speak of his outstanding musical talent…. Some of the comments received were;
“a brilliant musician.” - “A Vincy genius” – “This man used to come up with cords that weren’t even registered on music scores.”- “One of St. Vincent’s top Keyboard players.” – “A legend.”- “Talent extraordinaire.” - “An excellent keyboard player.” - “Backy was a genius.” - “He made things look simple and was never flustered by the task.” - “Such a great keyboardist.”………………….
His love for music extended beyond the keyboard; He also played the bass guitar and the steel Drum. Gregory was a dear brother with a warm and loving heart to his siblings: Kay, Hyacinth, Dawn, Bertram, Brian, Lennox, Alden and Anthony.
He performed with Asterisks, Fugitives, Blacksand, X-A-Dus as well as other musical groups in St. Vincent. Backie (as his friends called him), was instrumental in the first all original album studio recording with X-A-Dus. He performed with X-A-Dus and the ABC of Calypso Alston Becket Cyrus on several tours in the Caribbean and South America.
Two years later X-A-Dus, while on a North American tour, got an opportunity to record with Streakers Records. The genius Backie completed the track in One take. An accomplishment rarely achieved in that era.
In 2009, Backie accepted an invitation to travel from New York to St. Vincent for the X-A-Dus reunion which turned out to be his last performance with X-A-Dus.
Gregory was loved by all who interacted with him. He will be dearly missed by his mother, his wife Annette, two sons: Gregory (Jr) and Adrian, his siblings, his dear friend Peter Knight and all the lives he touched.
May his soul rest in perpetual peace!
Gregory attended the St. Vincent Grammar School. He chose music as his career; that was no surprise to his mother. She remembers that when he was in Grammar School she noticed that he began to pay more attention to playing the piano rather than to his school work. One day she said to him, "Greg, I see that you love music but you need to get a proper education. What would you like to do when you leave school?" Stomping his foot on the ground, he said, "Mommy, music, music, nothing but music."
Well, he never changed his mind. His parents sent him to music lessons and within a few weeks he refused to go back, saying that he didn't need any more music lessons because he could play on his own without a music book. This proved to be very true.
One of his school mates remarked; ‘Yes, Gregory was a great musician; we went to music lessons together and he would play the song once or twice from the book, then close the book and play it from his head.”
Other musicians also commented on his extraordinary ability to play complex chords from memory!
He moved to New York where he excelled in music and finally became a "Master Musician."
Most people speak of his outstanding musical talent…. Some of the comments received were;
“a brilliant musician.” - “A Vincy genius” – “This man used to come up with cords that weren’t even registered on music scores.”- “One of St. Vincent’s top Keyboard players.” – “A legend.”- “Talent extraordinaire.” - “An excellent keyboard player.” - “Backy was a genius.” - “He made things look simple and was never flustered by the task.” - “Such a great keyboardist.”………………….
His love for music extended beyond the keyboard; He also played the bass guitar and the steel Drum. Gregory was a dear brother with a warm and loving heart to his siblings: Kay, Hyacinth, Dawn, Bertram, Brian, Lennox, Alden and Anthony.
He performed with Asterisks, Fugitives, Blacksand, X-A-Dus as well as other musical groups in St. Vincent. Backie (as his friends called him), was instrumental in the first all original album studio recording with X-A-Dus. He performed with X-A-Dus and the ABC of Calypso Alston Becket Cyrus on several tours in the Caribbean and South America.
Two years later X-A-Dus, while on a North American tour, got an opportunity to record with Streakers Records. The genius Backie completed the track in One take. An accomplishment rarely achieved in that era.
In 2009, Backie accepted an invitation to travel from New York to St. Vincent for the X-A-Dus reunion which turned out to be his last performance with X-A-Dus.
Gregory was loved by all who interacted with him. He will be dearly missed by his mother, his wife Annette, two sons: Gregory (Jr) and Adrian, his siblings, his dear friend Peter Knight and all the lives he touched.
May his soul rest in perpetual peace!