Starr is a three-time recipient of the prestigious Meet the Composer Grant and the 2005 co-recipient of the Utah Arts Council Grant. From 2000-2003, he was commissioned by Artemis & The Wild Things Inc. to compose chamber music for NYC productions of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, and Macbeth. In 2007, Starr completed The Stones of Carnac, a chamber piece for tenor saxophone and string quartet. The piece received its world premier at The Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts, on November 9th, 2007 featuring Iain Ballamy (saxophone) and the Pavao String Quartet.  He’s currently writing a four-movement orchestral work entitled The Windsong of Crazy Horse.

Starr is also a non-fiction author. In 2003, Starr completed his first major publication, The Everything Drums Book®. Thousands of copies have been sold worldwide, and recently, his book has been translated into Spanish by Robinbook publishers in Barcelona, Spain.  Additional publications include: The Everything Rock and Blues Piano Book® (2007), The Everything Bass Guitar Book® co-authored with his brother Nelson (2008), The Everything Rock Drums Book® (due out January 2009) and The Everything Music Composition Book® (due out August 2009).  All five of books are commissions from Adams Media Corporation (F+W Publications).

As a drummer, performance highlights include recordings and/or stage appearances with artists as diverse as The Chieftains (w/ Los Lobos), Dominic Miller (Sting), Iain Ballamy (Gil Evans, Bill Bruford’s Earthworks), Jim Rotondi (Toshiko Akiyoshi), Kenny Ascher (John Lennon, 1979 Oscar nominee for The Rainbow Connection), Bobby Militello (Dave Brubeck), The Tails (art rock band), Graham Maby (Joe Jackson), Ezra Reich (pop artist), James Carter (Sony Recording artist), Don “Red” Menza (Buddy Rich Orchestra), Al Tinney (Charlie Parker), Rick Germanson (Louis Hayes), Roseanna Vitro (Telarc Recording Artist), and dozens of other internationally recognized musicians.

Starr has also performed at numerous music festivals throughout North America including the Connecticut Jazz Festival, Undercurrents (Cleveland), Beaches Jazz Festival (Toronto), North by Northwest (Toronto), South by Southwest (Austin), Edenfest (Ontario), June in Buffalo, The Nickel City Jazz Festival (Western New York), the North American New Music Festival (Western New York), and the CMJ Music Festival (New York City).

Additionally, Starr is a regular in New York City’s jazz and rock scenes and has performed at various clubs and music halls throughout the Big Apple. Among them, he has appeared at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), The Knitting Factory (main stage), Smoke, Lennox Lounge, St. Nicks Pub, Cornelia Street Café, Mercury Lounge, Arlene’s Grocery, Sin-e, Pianos, The Living Room, The Bitter End, Smalls, The Triad, The Coral Room, Brownies, The Continental, Galapagos, and Tonic to name a select few. His group was also the house band at Flute Gramercy, a New York City landmark, from 2002-2005 and he has performed at City Hall for Borough President C. Virginia Fields.

Starr’s “solo” debut SHE received radio play and/or record reviews in the United States, Europe, and Russia. Among others, The Buffalo News wrote that “Starr is establishing himself as a major player in modern jazz.” www.bestofwny.com called Starr “A music prodigy.” Muze Inc.—a global leader in entertainment information—called Starr an “accomplished composer…who would have made Antonio Carlos Jobim proud,” and Jazz Dimensions in Berlin called SHE “a beautiful, inspired debut album.”

Following the release of SHE, Starr was twice interviewed by America’s original “shock jock,” Joey Reynolds. The interviews aired coast-to-coast on the WOR Radio Network. In 2004, the group kicked off the release of SHE with a sold-out concert at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City followed by additional dates in NYC and Western New York.

Eric Starr resides in Manhattan and is an official endorser of Bosphorus Cymbals, Regal Tip drumsticks, Evans drumheads, and HQ Percussion, and Planet Wave accessories.

TO PURCHASE COPIES OF “SHE” GO TO WWW.CDBABY.COM/ERICSTARR!!!TO HEAR THREE FULL SONGS GO TO WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THEERICSTARRGROUP! ! !

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Please check back soon for more comments on other product endorsements!

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ERIC STARR—SHE

Drummer Eric Starr has cut a stylish contemporary jazz album with SHE. Featuring an extensive cast of musicians (including Sting guitarist Dominic Miller and saxophonist Iain Ballamy), the record offers up a wide variety of instrumentation, yet retains the intimate feel of a small group session, with arrangements that are consistently adventurous and ambitious.

Starr proves himself an accomplished composer on the vital post-bop opener, “Wakangli.” Several songs feature excellent performances by singer Nelson Starr (Eric’s brother). “Salta (Tren A Las Nubes),” for example, unfurls a languid vocal melody over a gentle bossa nova rhythm that would have made Antonio Carlos Jobim proud, while the elegant, melancholic “Tender Night” has the feel of a classic standard. The album also presents “La’raesa,” a Latin-inflected bop workout from Starr’s student days, and closes with “Warm at Heart,” a lush, wistful song commemorating 9/11 (and featuring another strong vocal by Nelson Starr). Overall, SHE is an album filled with fine musicianship and instrumental interplay, and is a particularly impressive showcase for Eric Starr’s compositional abilities.

Even if you put the “shooting star” puns aside, it can’t be denied — the extensive résumé of UB alum Eric Starr, drummer, composer, bandleader, singer and author would make anyone proud.

A ’94 graduate of UB, Starr earned his B.A. in music performance as a percussionist. Feeling the need to further achieve, he returned to Buffalo two years later to receive a second B.A. in English, taking full advantage of both degrees through writing and by performing with his band, The Eric Starr Group.

Starr currently has one book published by Adams Media, “The Everything Drum Book,” which hit shelves in 2004. The book is a tutorial for those with or without any experience in percussion.

The musician and author also has two more “everything” books in production for Adams Media. “The Everything Rock and Blues Piano Book” is scheduled for June 2007, and in 2008, “The Everything Bass Guitar Book,” which is co-authored by his brother Nelson Starr.

Since Starr is also a pianist, he was able to write “The Everything Rock and Blues Piano Book” alone. However, with the publication, Starr had to call upon his sibling and recent Buffalo Music Hall of Fame inductee, Nelson, to compose the bass tutorials.

“I do the formatting, editing, researching, historical and biographical work; writing out the notations,” Starr said. “And Nelson does the meat and potatoes of the composition since I don’t play bass.”

The book covers a combination of categories. It is chiefly a how-to guide, but also assumes the role of a biographical/musical encyclopedia with key innovators such as Paul McCartney, James Jameson and Jaco Pastorius to further knowledge of the instrument.

“It acts as a research guide, in the back of book there are two appendices, including a list of key innovators. It’s a pretty comprehensive list,” Starr said.

Adams Media publishes books that are designed to help readers meet their objective in any way possible.

“Their goal is to help the reader learn about what they are researching, whether it means to look elsewhere,” Starr said.

In the “everything” books collection Starr includes a list of other recommended readings, Web sites and films that would prove helpful to the reader.

“This is so that readers can continue their education or supplement education with references,” Starr said. “But to learn you really should have a qualified music instructor.”

It is likely that Starr will be authoring an advanced drumming book in the spring that will be added to the “everything” collection.

However, Starr’s UB education isn’t all that qualifies him to author such books so well. He has had an eclectic musical career, empowering him with experiences that only a few can imagine.

This diverse and talented artist has been awarded the prestigious Meet the Composer Grant three times and received the Utah Arts Council Grant in 2005. More impressively, Starr composed chamber music for NYC theater productions Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, and Macbeth. This is only the tip of the iceberg.

Starr’s experience extends even further with his band, The Eric Starr Group, which performs all original vocal jazz music. They blend contemporary jazz with sophisticate pop with a dash of Brazilian spices.

Again, Nelson Starr collaborates with Eric Starr, who offers his smooth and likeable vocal sounds. As if these two musical geniuses were not enough, the group is made up of more all-star players.

British modern jazz movement’s pioneer Iain Ballamy soothes listeners with both tenor and soprano saxophone sounds. He has played under famed musicians such as Bill Bruford, Cedar Walton, Gil Evans, and singer Ian Shaw. Starr actually grew up listening to Ballamy’s musical contributions. Now he has the pleasure of sharing the stage with him. Also having contributed to Starr’s studio recordings is Sting’s guitarist, Dominic Miller.

“This year is going to be a good year for us, I want to book more concert dates and work on a second album,” Starr said. “We also have the possibility of playing a music festival in the U.S. and abroad.”

While opportunities arise throughout the country and internationally, Starr hopes to be able to again perform in the Buffalo area sometime in 2007.

“We haven’t performed in a while,” Starr said. “In 2006 I was working as a freelance artist writing the two books and my wife Katherine and I had our new baby boy, Iain, who is essentially named after saxophonist Iain Bellamy.”

With plans for a new album, tour dates and several books, Starr has a full schedule for the year.

“2007 is going to be a good year,” he said. “I’ll be back in the saddle this year recording with the group working on the follow up to ‘She.’”