Eric Harland

Eric Harland
Eric Harland
	Harland performing in Munich Germany with the SFJAZZ Collective on March 10, 2010
Background information
Born	8 November 1976 (age 47); Houston, Texas United States
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, Bandleader
Instrument(s)	Drums
Website	Eric Harland

Eric Harland (born November 8, 1976) is an American jazz drummer.

Besides leading his own group Harland has performed with many renowned artists, including Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Joshua Redman, Ravi Coltrane, Kenny Garrett, Dave Holland, Charles Lloyd, Michael Brecker, Terence Blanchard, Walter Smith III, Chris Potter, Aaron Parks, Aaron Goldberg, Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage, Kurt Rosenwinkel, John Patitucci, and Zakir Hussain, among others.

He is also a member of the SFJAZZ Collective.

Biography

Harland began his professional career in 1993 playing locally in Houston, Texas as he finished high school at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where many of today's stars have studied. Harland won first chair in 1992-1993 with the Regional and All State Texas Jazz Band. He received a special Citation for Outstanding Musicianship in 1994 from the International Association of Jazz Educators. During a workshop in high school, Wynton Marsalis encouraged Harland to study in New York City.

After graduation, he attended the Manhattan School of Music with a full scholarship in their music program. After music school he went on to study Theology at Houston Baptist University (College of Biblical Studies) to become an ordained Minister.

Harland has been featured on over 80 recordings with various artists. Among these recordings, Let's Get Lost and Wandering Moon (Terence Blanchard), Back East (Joshua Redman), and Land Of Giants (McCoy Tyner) were nominated for Grammy Awards. With Terence Blanchard and Spike Lee, Harland has performed on 18 motion picture movie scores including The Caveman's Valentine, Original Sin, People I Know, and Dark Blue.

In Down Beat's 65th Annual Readers Poll, Harland was included on the short list of world's most recognized drummers along with Elvin Jones and Roy Haynes. He also won the 2008 and 2009 Critics Polls for Rising Star on the drums. Harland was featured in the September 2002 and November 2009 issues of Modern Drummer.

Harland released his debut album, Voyager: Live By Night in late 2010. It features Walter Smith III, Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage, and Harish Raghavan.