Darius was born in New Jersey to a father of Haitian descent and a mother of Jamaican descent.[1] He grew up in Tampa, Florida.[2] Born into a musical family, his father plays bass, his mother and sister sing, and his older brother plays drums and trumpet. Darius grew up listening to Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind and Fire, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Grover Washington, Jr., David Sanborn, George Benson, Bob Marley. He developed a love and appreciation for music at an early age, as his parents exposed him to music from many genres.[3] The first time he saw someone playing saxophone was when in church when he was nine years old. He fell in love with the sound. His parents bought him a saxophone for his birthday.
He began his performing career at the age of 11, when he joined and toured with Sonny LaRosa and America's Youngest Jazz Band.[4] The band included kids from the ages of five to twelve and toured worldwide, playing music by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong. While performing with the band at the Montreux Jazz Festival, he decided to pursue a career in music.[4]
At thirteen he left the youth band and his father became his manager. He started performing in Tampa Bay with his own band. As a teenager he performed over 100 shows per year. He attended Howard W. Blake High School of the Performing Arts.[3] In high school he participated in music and sports. He performed with the Blake High School jazz band at the Essentially Ellington contest and festival at Lincoln Center. At seventeen he released his first album independently.[3]
His debut album Night on the Town was released in 2004 by Higher Octave and peaked at No. 32 on the jazz albums chart at Billboard magazine.[7] This was followed by Just Getting Started, peaking at No. 18 (2006), Goin' All Out at 14 (2008), On a Mission at 10 (Shanachie, 2010),[8]Retro Forward at 15 (2014), and Breakin' Thru at 19 (2018).[7] The single "Goin' All Out" reached No. 1 on the Contemporary Jazz chart during the week of October 25, 2008.[9]
His performance at the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival earned him the JazzTrax Best Live Performance of the Year and the Smooth Jazz News Debut Artist of the Year.
^Mautner, Chris (September 29, 2011). "Eric Darius to bring his passion, soul to Dauphin County Jazz Festival". pennlive.com. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
^ ab"Eric Darius Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
^Miller, Michele (December 9, 2013). "Notable jazzman Eric Darius performs Sunday in Wesley Chapel". tampabay.com. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
^"Smooth Jazz Songs: Oct 25, 2008". billboard.com. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
External linksedit
Official website
November 30, 2023
eric, darius, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, from, article, talk. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Eric Darius news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Eric Darius born December 3 1982 is an American saxophonist vocalist songwriter producer and educator Eric DariusBackground informationBorn 1982 12 03 December 3 1982 age 40 Livingston New Jersey U S GenresJazz contemporary jazz smooth jazz R amp B popOccupation s MusicianInstrument s SaxophoneYears active1982 presentLabelsSagiDarius Blue Note Shanachie Narada Higher OctaveWebsiteericdarius wbr com Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Discography 3 References 4 External linksEarly life editDarius was born in New Jersey to a father of Haitian descent and a mother of Jamaican descent 1 He grew up in Tampa Florida 2 Born into a musical family his father plays bass his mother and sister sing and his older brother plays drums and trumpet Darius grew up listening to Stevie Wonder Michael Jackson Earth Wind and Fire Marvin Gaye Al Green Grover Washington Jr David Sanborn George Benson Bob Marley He developed a love and appreciation for music at an early age as his parents exposed him to music from many genres 3 The first time he saw someone playing saxophone was when in church when he was nine years old He fell in love with the sound His parents bought him a saxophone for his birthday He began his performing career at the age of 11 when he joined and toured with Sonny LaRosa and America s Youngest Jazz Band 4 The band included kids from the ages of five to twelve and toured worldwide playing music by Duke Ellington Count Basie and Louis Armstrong While performing with the band at the Montreux Jazz Festival he decided to pursue a career in music 4 At thirteen he left the youth band and his father became his manager He started performing in Tampa Bay with his own band As a teenager he performed over 100 shows per year He attended Howard W Blake High School of the Performing Arts 3 In high school he participated in music and sports He performed with the Blake High School jazz band at the Essentially Ellington contest and festival at Lincoln Center At seventeen he released his first album independently 3 Darius attended the University of South Florida in Tampa where he studied business and music 5 He studied jazz under the direction of Chuck Owens and Jack Wilkins and was a member of the university s Jazztet which performed at the Montreaux Jazz Festival North Sea Jazz Festival Jazz a Vienne and the Umbria Jazz Festival 6 During college he signed a recording contract with Higher Octave Music Career editHis debut album Night on the Town was released in 2004 by Higher Octave and peaked at No 32 on the jazz albums chart at Billboard magazine 7 This was followed by Just Getting Started peaking at No 18 2006 Goin All Out at 14 2008 On a Mission at 10 Shanachie 2010 8 Retro Forward at 15 2014 and Breakin Thru at 19 2018 7 The single Goin All Out reached No 1 on the Contemporary Jazz chart during the week of October 25 2008 9 His performance at the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival earned him the JazzTrax Best Live Performance of the Year and the Smooth Jazz News Debut Artist of the Year Discography edit Title Date and label Peak Billboard chart positionCruisin Released March 16 2000 Label Smooth Breeze Night on the Town Released June 29 2004 Label Higher Octave 32Just Getting Started Released March 7 2006 Label Narada 18Goin All Out Released June 24 2008 Label Blue Note 14On a Mission Released June 29 2010 Label Shanachie 10Retro Forward Released November 11 2014 Label Shanachie 15Breakin Thru Released May 12 2017 Label SagiDarius 19References edit Bettendorf Elizabeth August 4 2008 Sax player s chic Wesley Chapel home is a blast tampabay com Archived from the original on October 8 2017 Retrieved December 3 2013 Collar Matt Eric Darius allmusic com Retrieved December 3 2013 a b c Manis Debbie July 9 2007 Patsy Cline tribute will hit Mount Dora orlandosentinel com Retrieved December 3 2013 a b https www billboard com artist eric darius Mautner Chris September 29 2011 Eric Darius to bring his passion soul to Dauphin County Jazz Festival pennlive com Retrieved December 3 2013 Shaw Mary Liz August 5 2005 Calendar Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Retrieved December 3 2013 a b Eric Darius Chart History Billboard Retrieved January 21 2019 Miller Michele December 9 2013 Notable jazzman Eric Darius performs Sunday in Wesley Chapel tampabay com Retrieved December 25 2013 Smooth Jazz Songs Oct 25 2008 billboard com Retrieved December 3 2013 External links editOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eric Darius amp oldid 1155823841, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
