ERIC FORD
ERIC FORD
PROFESSIONAL DRUMMER / PERCUSSIONIST
F E A T U R E D R E V I E W S
"Eric Ford's drumming is far more than just a rhythmic foundation ; he creates melodic lines of his own, rich with dynamic shifts. His playing offers a modern jazz-fusion approach while also nodding to classic swing and rock. Ford's style is tight, ensuring that every hit accentuates the mood of the song, and his synergy with Naylor's guitar gives the album its deep, full-bodied sound."
Anastasia Bogomelets, All About Jazz (reviewing "Organza" by Patrick Naylor)
" ...strong and creative"
Julian Joseph, Jazz Line-Up, BBC Radio 3
"...exquisitely subtle drumming, superbly delicate here and throughout the album.''
Roger Farbey, All About Jazz (reviewing "String Theory" by Partikel)
" Ford excels on drums throughout - bold, crisp, creative,in total command of a seemingly endless range of techniques.''
Eddie Myer, jazzviews.net (reviewing "Counteraction" by Partikel)
"Ford's hi-hat snaps and fills, and the precision with which he plays complex patterns...are constantly striking features of this engaging debut.''
John Fordham, The Guardian (reviewing "Next Beginning" by Samuel Eagles)
EVENTS
June 13th :
Birmingham Jazz at 1000 Trades with Julian Nicholas, David Beebee, Tobie Carpenter, Dave Whitford.
June 22nd :
Highams Park Jazz Club at All Saints Church, London E4 9QZ with Duncan Eagles, Soner Ersen, Dave Manington. 5-8pm incl. jam session.
N E W S
Hello and welcome.
Janette Mason's album "Re:Wired" is at last released, two years after we recorded it! The launch was at Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho on May 14th (featuring Richard Beesley, Claire Martin, Juliet Kelly and Tom Mason), and then there's a sprinkling of London dates across the summer (The Vortex on July 17th, Ronnie Scott's on September 29th). The album has been very favourably reviewed in the May edition of Jazzwise (4 stars) and in UK Jazz News.
June highlights include Birmingham Jazz with former Loose tubes saxophonist Julian Nicholas' Quintet on the 13th and Twickenham Jazz Club with Janette Mason's trio on the 25th, plus gigs with singers Brigitte Beraha, Marta Mathea Radwan and Jenny Howe amongst others. Please see the "concerts" page for details!
I'm pleased to say the organ trio album "Organza" put together by Patrick Naylor and David Beebee is now available on each of our Bandcamp pages, where you can of course listen for free. There's a lot of diversity from track to track and Pat and David's writing makes for an atypical organ trio album, I think.
Pianist Adam Dyer has FINALLY released his debut album for which Jakub Cywinski, Duncan Eagles and I recorded a couple of sessions at Red Gables in west London back in 2019 and 2021! Featuring excellent and varied compositions by Adam and some swinging arrangements of choice standards, it's called River Spirit and currently only available via https://adamdyer.co.uk I particularly like the group improv on "The Potting Shed" and the interplay during the piano solos on "In With The New" and "Battersea Blues." Patrick Hadfield gave the album a very positive review in London Jazz News, describing my playing as "totemic"!! Please do tell me if you know what he meant by that.
I'm pleased to say the same quartet just recorded Adam's second album, in August 2024. Hopefully that'll be released more quickly than the first one!
I've released a couple of albums on Bandcamp! (With much assistance from David Beebee and my very patient brother-in-law, Ali.) They're both other people's projects that I was involved in and both recorded at David's Beeboss Studios. From 2018 comes "What Can I Do" (without a question mark), the only album of pianist Paolo Losi's own compositions. Paolo died suddenly within 6 months of recording aged just 46, so bassist Dave Jones and I wanted to share this music in remembrance of him. There's a written tribute by our mutual friend Paolo Muraro, too. Please check it out HERE.
The other album is by a short-lived trio of trumpet / double bass / drums that I enjoyed very much and which contrasts markedly with the Paolo release. It's with a couple of my Polish friends (Jakub Cywinski and Dawyd Frydryk) recorded in July 2019. You can give that a listen HERE.
There's more detail on many other albums I've had the good fortune to play on in the "Albums" section.
Imogen Ryall's re-imagining of Joni Mitchell's "Mingus" album was officially released in late September last year on the Rubicon Jazz label and made it onto the "best albums of 2023" lists of several critics in the UK and US. It's also been nominated for a Parliamentary Jazz Award this year. We're playing at a festival near Calais in France in March! Album link HERE.
I'm in a book ! David Harvey - father of cool cat bassist Jon Harvey - photographed 90 musicians in London and interviewed some of them, including me. It's called "The Look Of Jazz" and provides an interesting snapshot (sorry) of a part of the London scene around now and the opinions and backgrounds of some of those in it.
