Eric Frazier In Your Own Time CD

Soul-jazz (or as jazz critic Scott Yanow calls it, "rhythm & jazz") has existed in many different forms over the years, ranging from the tenor sax honkers of the late '40s and early '50s to the Jimmy Smith-influenced organ combos of the late '50s and '60s, to Grover Washington, Jr., David Sanborn and the Crusaders in the '70s and '80s. But whatever the era, the basic idea behind soul-jazz has remained the same, and that idea is blues and R&B accessibility combined with the improvisatory freedom of jazz. It's an idea that percussionist/singer Eric Frazier obviously favors on In Your Own Time. Parts of this album are relevant to hard bop -- for example, "That's It" -- and parts of it are mindful of modal post-bop (including "Celia"). But whether he is being influenced by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, John Coltrane, James Brown or the Neville Brothers, Frazier always gets his groove on and gives In Your Own Time a lot of soul-jazz appeal. Quite frankly, Frazier is stronger as a bandleader/percussionist than as a singer. He favors an easygoing vocal style that is somewhere between Mose Allison and Charles Brown, although he doesn't have their vocal chops; nonetheless, he pretty much manages to get the job done on catchy numbers like "I'm Impressed" and "The Jazz Spot." The album's weakest vocal offering is the ultra-sentimental "Here to Stay," which is meant to be a tribute to the late Luther Vandross but is saccharine and just plain trite. Thankfully, that track is the only thing on this 2006 release that should be avoided. In Your Own Time has many more pluses than minuses, and it is a generally enjoyable demonstration of soul-jazz's enduring power. ~ Alex Henderson

Eric Frazier was born in Harlem, New York City. He was raised in Brooklyn, New York in a family of eight children. He ran track and road races for 27 years. His love of the physical culture and creative expression led him to the study of the Conga Drum, Djembe Drum and African Dance.His recordings exemplify a world of music including Jazz, Swing, BeBop, Salsa, R&B. Calypso and Blues. His CD’s have been a perennial best seller for Tower Records.Eric hosted his own television talk show called “Cultural Horizons” on Queens Public Access Cable TV in 1998. He has made personal appearances on The Hambone Cable TV show (BCAT), The Camille Yarborough Manhattan Cable TV Show, along with his gifted and talented daughter Du Ewa Frazier (author of “Shedding Light On My Journey’s and CEO of Litnoire Publishing Company www.litnoirepublishing.com), The Jazzy Jazz Show (BCAT-TV), Producer’s Profile (BCAT-TV), Caribbean Soul (BCAT-TV), and BET Jazz Discovery and Bet On Jazz Cable TV shows. Eric is the co-host of WLIU Jazz radio 88.1 FM on BCAT Cable TV channel 57 (Time Warner) and Channel 70 (CableVision). In addition, He has appeared on numerous radio stations across the USA.Eric has performed in such historic New York venues as the famous Rainbow Room, Madison Square Garden Theater, The Iridium Jazz Club, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and The Apollo Theater. He has performed in great Jazz venues of New York, Chicago, New Jersey, Philadephia, PA, St. Louis, MO, Washington DC , Los Angeles, CA, San Diego, CA and numerous Universities and colleges. Eric’s interest in Dance, Music, Theater and Writing are evident in his background. Otis Gould, former Chi-lites drummer and college friend, taught him to play Congas for bands. He learned the Djembe drum from Ibrahim, famous master teacher from The Dance Company of Senegal. Eric was inspired in dance by his brother, the gifted and talented Gary Ellis Frazier, formerly with The Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Eric has performed with such dance groups as Katherine Dunham, Olatunji, Charles Moore, Chief Bey, The International African Ballet, and Varshaa Bardhan and Chandra Baneyei of The Tanusree Shankar Dance Company of India (Headed by Ananda Shankar, son of the great Ravi Shankar).Eric was a s