Eric C.

Eric is a jazz drummer and composer currently residing in Houston, TX. He plays music with a tremendous amount of purpose and is infinitely creative in the way he manages color and shape. With his compositions, he aims to explore new territory while channeling the spirits of McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Kenny Garrett. His pieces all have a searching quality where he isn't quite sure what he's looking for, but he'll know when he's found it. He yearns for the unexpected and his songs gradually unfold like a Tarantino movie.

Eric grew up in the SF Bay Area where he studied with Akira Tana (Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt) and spent much of his time driving up to the city to go to jam sessions.Then, he went to New York University for Music Education where he studied under Ron McClure (Joe Henderson, Wynton Kelly) and Sean Statser (NYU Percussion).

Some of the people he has played with are Robbie Laws (award winning blues guitarist), George Colligan (renowned jazz pianist), Anna Crumley (Grammy winning vocalist), Reggie Houston (Fats Domino Band), Ben Rice (award winning blues guitarist), Jennifer Keith (jazz vocalist and Las Vegas headliner), Charlie Porter (Grammy winning trumpet player), Bob Stark (Grammy winning engineer), Eric Reed (Wynton Marsalis, Ron Carter), and many more!

For the past 10 years, Eric has been an avid educator and has taught drum students of all ages and levels. He offers a straight forward step-by-step approach to the instrument that anyone can benefit from. Some areas that get covered include technique, theory, listening, songs, soloing, improvisation, and how to accompany others. 

What sets Eric apart from other teachers is that he tries to be very clear about the function of the notes so that students know what they're playing and why. At all times, you're either coasting, adding pressure, resolving a phrase, making a melodic statement, or playing a color. It can be somewhat ambiguous what to play on the drums since there aren't always specific things written out or chords to play over so he tries to make sure that students play with purpose and intention in every note.

Request More Info about Music Lessons