by Eric | Nov 29, 2017 | Artistry
Background As of writing this post I am nearly halfway through a Kickstarter project to fund my debut album as jazz composer/bandleader. One of the reward levels is “Composer Package” where “I’d love to share with you PDF scores of each of the...
by Eric | May 21, 2016 | Local Art and Artists
The Setup: Moogfest I lead a dual-life as an artist and technologist. This week, those worlds collided geographically. By day I am a sales engineer at Bronto, an email marketing company with gorgeous offices on the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham. At the...
by Eric | Aug 13, 2014 | Local Art and Artists
On Monday, Art of Cool Project co-founder Cicely Mitchell guest blogged at ArtsNowNC in a piece called “Why Durham, and why jazz?” She presents a few reasons for why Durham is poised for innovation and growth in jazz, both artistic output and audience. The...
by Eric | Jul 16, 2014 | Artistry
This slideshow requires JavaScript. In my last blog post I announced that I had been invited to the prestigious Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute for a one-week jazz residency at their Chicago festival campus. It has been almost a month and only now am I able...
by Eric | Apr 24, 2014 | Artistry
I recently received the most surprising, amazing phone call – I have been invited to participate in a one week long jazz workshop with other young, rising jazz talents at the Chicago area’s famous Ravinia Festival! This is the kind of thing that you...
by Eric | Apr 16, 2014 | Local Art and Artists, The Beast
It’s finally here! I’ve observed, performed for, and occasionally advised the amazing jazz advocacy team over at The Art of Cool Project ever since its inception. I couldn’t be more excited for and proud of this crew as we are two weeks away from...
by Eric | Feb 1, 2014 | The Beast
Though I did not blog about it when it happened, one of my favorite artistic achievements of 2013 was the release of The Beast + Big Band’s debut EP, Gardens. We titled the album Gardens for two reasons: 1) we initially assembled this thirteen-member hip hop...
by Eric | Oct 3, 2013 | Artistry
Today marks the fourth anniversary of the best decision of my life so far – to embark on the sacred journey of marriage with Lauren Ann Schlenger Hirsh. Early in our courtship, Lauren gifted me a copy of Kahlil Gibran’s 1923 classic, The Prophet. Part of...
by Eric | Sep 9, 2013 | Local Art and Artists
I am so excited for this particular month. It is chock full of great performances, and I get to play in no less than five configurations, from solo jazz piano, to singer-songwriter, to orchestral hip hop ensemble. Highlights include The Beast + Big Band opening for...
by Eric | Aug 9, 2013 | Local Art and Artists
As we here in the Durham music community continue to grow up as artists and humans, we also move through different projects to accommodate our changing visions. Pierce is putting a lot of time into the Beatmaking Lab in addition to The Beast. Phil Cook has His Feat in...
