Born and raised in Connecticut, Gates made his public debut as a vocalist at the age of six. In his youth he listened to jazz stations broadcasting from New York City, learned about jazz from disc jockeys, and when he was ten, he bought his first jazz album, ‘Time Out’ by Dave Brubeck. Just after college, Gates moved to Alaska to work on the Alaska Pipeline, intending to stay only a year but remaining for twelve. While performing at a jazz festival in Fairbanks, he was approached by Sarah Vaughan who encouraged him to leave Alaska and pursue a singing career. In 1990, at the age of forty, he moved back to Connecticut and five years later, he released his first album, Blue Skies.