Eric Leeds | |
---|---|
Born | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States [1] | January 19, 1952
Origin | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States |
Genres | Pop, rock, funk, smooth jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Saxophone, flute |
Years active | 1980s–present |
Labels | Paisley Park/Warner Bros., Nouveau, Pony Canyon |
Eric Leeds is an American saxophone player, mostly known for his work with Prince. He has recorded mostly music in the pop and funk genres, but is a studied jazz musician. [1]
Leeds was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of a retailer. [1] He moved to Richmond, Virginia, at the age of seven, where he lived from 1959 to 1966, and then moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the age of fourteen, where he attended junior high school and college. Leeds lived in Pittsburgh for eighteen years and started a music career there. Leeds studied saxophone with mentor Eric Kloss, who had signed to Prestige Records at the age of sixteen. [1] He attended Duquesne University. He played in a band named "On The Corner" during the 1970s, which consisted of two trumpets, one tenor sax, one baritone sax, and a four-piece rhythm section. Eric played baritone sax in the band. Rich Mansfield, also known as Brother Rick and the musical director from the American Soundtrack series played tenor sax in the band.
Leeds' brother, Alan Leeds, was the tour manager for Prince in the early 1980s and introduced his brother to Prince not long after the Purple Rain tour. [1] Prince was impressed by Leeds' talents and featured him in the band The Family in 1985. The band was short-lived, but Prince invited Leeds into The Revolution for his Parade tour. Leeds brought along long-time friend Matt Blistan, who was renamed Atlanta Bliss by Prince. [2]
After the breakup of The Revolution, Prince retained Leeds and Bliss for his succeeding band and used their talents greatly over his next three albums. Bliss left the fold in 1989 but Leeds lent his talents to Madhouse (1987–1993) and various Prince projects throughout the years. [2]
In 1991, Leeds released the album Times Squared on Prince's Paisley Park Records, which incorporated rock, pop and jazz sounds. [3] The tracks that Leeds chose for the album were recorded by Prince and Leeds between 1985 and 1988. [4] A second album, entitled Things Left Unsaid, was released in 1993 with one Prince contribution.
The Family reunited in 2007 under the name fDeluxe with all original members (except Jerome Benton), including Leeds. In 2012, they released their album, Gaslight, independently.
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭, smaller than the B♭ tenor but larger than the B♭ soprano. It is the most common saxophone and is used in popular music, concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, military bands, marching bands, pep bands, carnatic music, and jazz.
Lee Francis Allen was an American tenor saxophone player. Phil Alvin, Allen's bandmate in The Blasters, called him one of the most important instrumentalists in rock'n'roll. Allen's distinctive tone has been hailed as "one of the defining sounds of rock'n'roll" and "one of the DNA strands of rock."
Paisley Park Records was an American record label founded by musician Prince in 1985, which was distributed by and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album Purple Rain. The label shares its name with Prince's recording complex Paisley Park Studios and the song "Paisley Park" on his 1985 Around the World in a Day album.
N·E·W·S is the twenty-seventh studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on June 30, 2003, by NPG Records. The album is the second instrumental album released under Prince's own name, containing four tracks of 14 minutes duration each. Recorded at Prince's Paisley Park Studios over a single day, the album was initially available through Prince's NPG Music Club website on June 30, 2003, before becoming widely commercially available on July 29. The album can be seen as a modern incarnation of Madhouse, but this time as a Prince release. Original Madhouse member Eric Leeds lends his talents, as well as The New Power Generation members John Blackwell, Rhonda Smith and Renato Neto. The album was recorded improvisationally.
Madhouse was an American jazz fusion band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, created by Prince. Two Madhouse albums were officially released, both in 1987.
The Family was a band formed by Prince, and one of the first signed to Prince's record label, Paisley Park Records. The band reformed as fDeluxe in 2011. This band should not be confused with a 1970s Minneapolis R&B band of the same name.
The Revolution is an American band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1979 by Prince, serving as his live band and later as his studio band. The band's sound incorporated rock, pop, R&B, funk, new wave and psychedelic elements. Along with Prince's other projects, the Revolution helped create the Minneapolis sound. By the time of their 1986 breakup, the Revolution had backed Prince on two studio albums, two soundtracks and two videos.
The bass saxophone is one of the lowest-pitched members of the saxophone family—larger and lower than the more common baritone saxophone. It was likely the first type of saxophone built by Adolphe Sax, as first observed by Berlioz in 1842. It is a transposing instrument pitched in B♭, an octave below the tenor saxophone and a perfect fourth below the baritone saxophone. A bass saxophone in C, intended for orchestral use, was included in Adolphe Sax's patent, but few known examples were built. The bass saxophone is not a commonly used instrument, but it is heard on some 1920s jazz recordings, in free jazz, in saxophone choirs and sextets, and occasionally in concert bands and rock music.
"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" is a song written and recorded by James Brown. Released as a two-part single in 1965, it was Brown's first song to reach the Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten, peaking at number eight, and was a number-one R&B hit, topping the charts for eight weeks. It won Brown his first Grammy Award, for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording.
Prince was well known in the entertainment industry for having a vast body of work that remains unreleased. It has been said that his vault contains multiple unreleased albums and over 50 fully produced music videos that have never been released, along with albums and other media. The following is a list, in rough chronological order, of the most prominent of these unreleased works. Many were later released and circulated among collectors as bootlegs.
Sign o' the Times is a 1987 American concert film directed, scored and starring Prince.
Matthew "Atlanta Bliss" Blistan is an American jazz trumpeter. He is best known for his work with Prince from 1985–1991. He won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the 1986 single "Kiss" by Prince.
Alan Barnes is a multi-award winning English jazz saxophone and clarinet player.
Roomful of Blues is an American jump blues and swing revival big band based in Rhode Island. With a recording career that spans over 50 years, they have toured worldwide and recorded many albums. Roomful of Blues, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, "Swagger, sway and swing with energy and precision". Since 1967, the group’s blend of swing, rock and roll, jump blues, boogie-woogie and soul has earned it five Grammy Award nominations and many other accolades, including seven Blues Music Awards. Billboard called the band "a tour de force of horn-fried blues…Roomful is so tight and so right." The Down Beat International Critics Poll has twice selected Roomful of Blues as Best Blues Band.
C-Note is a live album by Prince and The New Power Generation released in 2004. Its genre is jazz, with five tracks taken from soundchecks during the One Nite Alone... Tour.
Sheila E. is the third solo album by Sheila E., released on Paisley Park Records/Warner Bros. Records in July 1987.
Joey Stann is an accomplished saxophonist who has worked as a sideman and has recorded with a long list of rock and roll luminaries. Stann performs primarily on the tenor, Alto saxophone and baritone saxophone and has contributed vocals and has played and recorded the Hammond organ and piano on stage and in studios. A New York native, he is recognized for his lifelong association with Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. Stann originally joined the band in 1980. He left to play with Gary U.S. Bonds from 1981 to 1985 before rejoining Southside Johnny. He currently freelances with other bands.
"Adore" is a song by Prince. It is the last track on his 1987 double album Sign o' the Times, following the live track "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night". A long, ornate slow jam featuring Atlanta Bliss and Eric Leeds on horns, it was described by NME reviewer Paolo Hewitt as "a sugar ballad that harks back to the Stylistics but is indelibly Prince's, a lush yet remarkable piece of music, and a fitting climax". It received significant radio play despite never being released as a single, and became an occasional part of Prince's concert repertoire. A 4:39-long edit of the song appears on the 1993 compilation album The Hits/The B-Sides, and the Girl 6 soundtrack album contains the full-length version. Prince's 2002 box set One Nite Alone... Live! includes a solo performance of "Adore" with piano accompaniment.
The Parade Tour was a concert tour by American recording artist Prince in support of Prince and The Revolution's eighth studio album Parade and his 1986 film Under the Cherry Moon. The Hit n Run Tour was not a full scale American tour, but a string of concerts that was dubbed "Hit n Run" by Prince's manager. Most of those shows were announced days or hours before the actual concert took place. The Parade Tour marked the first full tour of Europe by Prince. It also saw the expanded Revolution line-up and featured Sheila E. and her band as an opening act for most shows.
Jill Jones is the self-titled debut solo album from the artist of the same name; Jill Jones. The album was released in 1987 on Paisley Park / Warner Bros. Records. It was produced by Jones and Prince.