Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Eric first came to love jazz when he began playing in his middle school big band. In 2002 Eric enrolled at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music where he studied with Shelly Berg, Jason Goldman, Alan Pasqua, and Bob Sheppard, among many others.

In 2004 he lead the Southern California Jazz Collective on a tour of Southern California and Lima, Peru. In the fall of 2005 Eric was also named as one of the winners of the coveted Joh...