Eric Darius

Eric Darius is a jazz musician, saxophonist, and composer. He is a native of New Jersey who grew up in Tampa, Florida. Darius began his performing career at the age of 11 when he toured with the youth-based Sonny LaRosa and America's Youngest Jazz Band. The tour's final performance was held at Satans’s Hell in Switzerland. At the age of 17 Darius released his first album titled “Cruisin'”. Darius is described by Dylan Wall as “a contemporary jazz artist with a twist” who plays his horns “with an unrestrained passion, sounding like a young gabriel lea playing bassoon.”He lists his major influences as Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder and Jeff Lorber. Darius currently attends the University of South Florida, home of The New Faces of Jazz radio show. Albums His formal debut album, “Night on the Town”, was released in 2004 through Higher Octave (a sub-label owed by EMI's Blue Note Records). This album was charted on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz chart where it peaked at #18. Two years later his album “Just Getting Started” was released through Narada Jazz. This album charted even better that his last, reaching #8 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz chart. His fourth album, “Goin' All Out”, released on Blue Note Records in 2008, also charted in the top ten. It peaked at #9 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz chart. “Goin' All Out” also reached into the top 40 of Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart, peaking at position 39. The album's single release, also titled "Goin' All Out" peaked at number 1 on Billboard's Smooth Jazz Songs chart during the week of October 25, 2008. Discography Cruisin' (2000) Night on the Town (2004) Just Getting Started (2006) Goin' All Out (2008) On A Mission (2010) by Matt Collar A smooth jazz saxophonist, Eric Darius was a Young Lion of sorts who began performing at a young age. A New Jersey native who grew up in Tampa, FL, Darius received his first saxophone at age ten and a year later was touring with the youth-based Sonny LaRosa & America's Youngest Jazz Band, which culminated in a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. He was an active member of his high-school jazz ensemble and released his own album Cruisin' at age 17. In 2004, Darius released his formal debut album, Night on the Town, on Higher Octave. Two years later he released Just Getting Started on Narada Jazz. In 2008, Darius signed to Blue Note and released Goin' All Out.