Jazz Articles about Eric Harland

About Eric Harland

Radio & Podcasts

Eric Harland: Time is a joint effort

by Leo Sidran
February 15, 2021

Drummer Eric Harland tells his incredible story of growing up in Houston and how he came to weigh 400lbs by the time he was 16 (he eventually lost the weight in college), attending the Manhattan School of Music, becoming an ordained minister, living with singer Betty Carter during the last year of her life, learning from legendary mentors, and exploring “time." He also shares his thoughts on practice, community, natural wine, and what you can learn about a person by ...

Album Review

Charles Lloyd and the Marvels: Tone Poem

Read "Tone Poem" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
January 31, 2021

The download comes down the i-pipe in a virtual blue folder titled Charles Lloyd Tone Poem and the first thought upon initial listening is 'damn right it is'! It is a deceptively graceful covers album which immediately makes all the songs—many by none other than Ornette Coleman, Gabor Szabo and Leonard Cohen—their own highly active ecosystem of blurry form, focused response, and whatever else tickles Lloyd's fancy. Lloyd has been a genuine, spiritual force since the moment he ...

Album Review

Dayna Stephens Trio: Liberty

Read "Liberty" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann

by Friedrich Kunzmann
March 24, 2020

Saxophonist Dayna Stephens, bassist Ben Street and drummer Eric Harland, together with two handfuls of original compositions, make Liberty a hip and bopping success. Who needs chords, when three voices and tones are able to interact so seamlessly and easily with one another--carefully planting ideas, picking them up and elegantly developing them over the continuing stream of bars and measures? Stephens' round tone and clear melodic language are remarkably well accompanied in a set of tunes made up of catchy ...

Album Review

Ross McHenry: Nothing Remains Unchanged

Read "Nothing Remains Unchanged" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
March 6, 2020

Electric bassist Ross McHenry has been a highly-regarded presence in the Australian jazz scene since the release of his 2013 debut record, Distant Oceans (First Word Records). His recognition outside of his home country has been limited, although that may change with his 2020 release, Nothing Remains Unchanged. Eschewing some of his larger-ensemble tendencies for a pared-down quartet concept, this album sees McHenry honing his melodic instincts and creating an infectious chemistry with some new colleagues. On his ...

Live Review

Eric Harland's Voyager at The Highline Ballroom

by Dan Bilawsky
September 5, 2014

Eric Harland's Voyager Highline Ballroom Vipassana CD Release New York, NY September 2, 2014 The CD release show for Vipassana (GSI Records, 2014)--the sophomore album from drummer Eric Harland's Voyager--didn't play out like a typical club set or concert; it was more like a spiritual journey through songs, segues, and seas of rhythm. Harland and his expandable/contractible outfit delivered a ceaseless flow of music for an hour and forty-five minutes. Mantras were intoned, voice ...

Extended Analysis

Eric Harland's Voyager: Vipassana

by Dan Bilawsky
July 29, 2014

Much is said about records once they've come into the world, but little is discussed about the motive(s) surrounding the birthing of a record. Sometimes it's simply about marketing, exposure, money, and pure narcissism. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that on some level(s), and many classic albums have been made with little to nothing else in mind, but it's harder to appreciate the artistry and the artist when records made for such reasons appear on the horizon. It's far more ...

Profile

Eric Harland's Voyager: Going Places

by Zach Hindin
April 28, 2013

Where most debut acts aim to make a statement, Eric Harland's first lead project, Voyager, is decidedly conversational. Harland, arguably the consummate jazz drummer of his generation, has staffed his quintet with a potent if precocious musical brain trust. The year after pianist Taylor Eigsti first played with pianist Dave Brubeck (he was 12 at the time), guitarist Julian Lage became the subject of the 1997 Academy Award-nominated documentary Jules at Eight (Lage began performing publicly when he was six). ...