GEOFF GALLEGOS (DOUBLE G) came into conducting as a necessary evil. As daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra grew, it became increasingly challenging for Double G, a sax player, to hit the cues for the ensemble and hit all his notes. Ultimately, James King took over the baritone sax chores, putting Double G in front with markers and sketch pads.

Double G’s musical brain was trained at Berklee College of Music in Boston; his musical soul was trained on the road, in tour vans, buses, planes, trains, and automobiles. His list of influential teachers and mentors begins with his public school music teacher, Orlando Otis, and also includes Larry Baird, Herb Pomeroy, trumpeter Ron Miles, and producers Garry Shider and Mudbone Cooper.

At age 22, Double G found himself onstage with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, playing sax in a pops show, feeling intimidated by the players who could really play. At the same time, he spent his night playing with turntablists and MCs in a Denver club, So What. Double G came to Los Angeles to write a movie, and ended up with daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra, the ultimate union of exacting orchestral artistry and improvisatory hip hop soul.

In addition to his work with this ensemble, Double G is an active studio composer, arranger, and conductor in Los Angeles.