Eric Essix
Eric Essix (born December 29, 1959 in Birmingham) is a jazz guitarist and bandleader.
Essix was given his first guitar by his grandfather at age 10 and taught himself to play well enough to perform with local gospel groups and in high-school talent competitions. A 1977 Weather Report concert inspired him to pursue instrumental jazz.
He joined the local band Souvenir in 1984 and played with them until the group split two years later. He then put together eight of his originals on an independently-produced album, First Impressions, which gained the notice of west coast jazz label Nova Records, which reissued it nationally and also produced his follow-ups, Second Thoughts and Third Degree Burn. After that first brush with success, Essix entered the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, graduating in 1993. He and some of his fellow graduates toured together as Eric Essix and Modern Man, releasing a live album in 1995.
Essix signed with Nashville-based Tribute Records, part of the Diadem Music Group. They released Beautiful Music: Guitar and Just Like You. Since then he has recorded for smooth jazz label Zebra Records and for his own S6 Jazz Records, and, most recently, with Essential Recordings.
Essix has also been actively touring and contributing compositions to films and advertising. He composed and performed the score for the race-relations documentary Broken Ground and is the subject of a biographical film Eric Essix: At Home for Alabama Public Television.
Essix is the youngest person to have been inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and was named the "Best Jazz Musician" for 1995 by Birmingham magazine.
Discography
- Essix, Eric (1988) First Impressions, reissued 1992 by Nova Records
- Essix, Eric (1991) Second Thoughts, Nova Records
- Essix, Eric (1993) Third Degree Burn, S6 Jazz Records
- Essix, Eric (1995) Just Like You, Spirit Jazz
- Essix, Eric (1998) Small Talk, Zebra Records
- Essix, Eric (2000) Southbound, Zebra Records
- Essix, Eric (2004) Somewhere in Alabama, Essential Recordings
External links
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- Eric Essix on myspace.com
- Eric Essix profile at All-Music Guide