I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a while, but I never got around to it until now.
A few weeks ago, Paul DeMarinis, Director of Jazz Studies here at Webster, was lucky enough to get Eric Person to come and visit Webster for a day. If you don’t know who Eric Person is….I will tell you! Eric is a world-renowned saxophonist that has played with some of the biggest jazz musicians in the world. His most famous gig was a three-year stint with the Dave Holland Quartet. Anyone who knows jazz knows that Dave Holland has consistently kept one of the most exciting jazz groups in the world in his quartet, and more recently his quintet. Eric was Holland’s sax player just prior to Chris Potter, who is my favorite modern saxophonist.
Needless to say, when I heard Paul had convinced Eric to come to Webster to critique our jazz masterclass and give a clinic for all the sax player, I was pretty excited. I had heard a few tracks of Eric playing with Dave, but I didn’t have a complete album. So a few days before Eric came, I headed down to the local record store here in Webster Groves called Euclid Records. It is probably about a hundred yards from campus, so I had time to go with a friend between classes. As it turns out, Euclid had one used copy of the one album that Eric recorded with Dave Holland, Dream of the Elders. That’s how Euclid is…you always find what you’re looking for!
Anyway, Eric ended up providing some great insights at masterclass and gave a fantastic clinic for the sax players. He even signed my album, which was pretty cool. We even got to talk for a little while, which was even cooler! This was certainly an exerience I will never forget.
- Matt
