Podcast Feature, Eric Hochberg

Jazz bassist Eric Hochberg has been a mainstay of the Chicago jazz scene for several decades, regularly performing on electric and acoustic with such artists as Pharoah Sanders, Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Cassandra Wilson, Von Freeman, Chico Freeman, Ken Nordine, and Cannonball Adderly.

As a composer, Eric has made contributions to Kurt Elling’s “Close Your Eyes” and “The Messenger” on Blue Note, Hochberg and Potter’s “World Thing” on HoPo Records, Trio New “New Bolero”, Paul Wertico’s “Yin and the Yout” and The Paul Wertico Trio’s “Live in Warsaw” & “Don’t Be Scared Anymore”. Five new compositions are featured on “Future Tense”, the new recording by Eric, Steve Eisen & Andrew Scott Potter.

He has toured nationally/internationally with the Lyle Mays Quartet, the Terry Callier Group, the Paul Wertico Trio, the Kurt Elling Quartet, and the Grazyna Auguscik Quintet and has performed at the Jazz Festivals of Montreal, San Fransisco, Chicago (17 times), Montreux, Rotterdam, UK/London, Free Jazz/Sao Paolo & Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Leverkeusen/Germany, Bam Festival/Barcelona, Nice Jazz/France, Cully Jazz/Swiss, The International Society of Jazz Educators/Atlanta, The Percussive Arts Society/Columbus, OH and many others. Eric Hochberg’s groups perform frequently around Chicagoland. The Eric Hochberg Orchestra has performed for countless events of all kinds over the past twenty years and Eric Hochberg Music contracts the finest musicians in the Chicago area for clients worldwide.

As a producer, Eric is credited with Jackie Allen’s 2006 debut Blue Note Records release, “Tangled” and her 2003 release “The Men in My Life”. Eric has also worked extensively with legendary singer-songwriter Terry Callier, producing his latest album, “Lookin’ Out”, on Emarcy and Mr. Bongo Records, the critically acclaimed “TC in DC” on Premonition, Verve Forecast’s “Timepeace”, Novo Record’s “Chicago Rapid Transit” and Acid Jazz “Totally Re-wired Vol. 8”. He co-produced “Future Tense” by Hochberg/Eisen/Potter available at musicstem.com. He is currently working on a trio project with pianist Michael Kocour, saxophonist Rich Fudoli and Eric on bass.

As a composer, Eric has made contributions to Kurt Elling’s “Close Your Eyes” and “The Messenger” on Blue Note, Hochberg and Potter’s “World Thing” on HoPo Records, Trio New “New Bolero”, Paul Wertico’s “Yin and the Yout” and The Paul Wertico Trio’s “Live in Warsaw” & “Don’t Be Scared Anymore”. Five new compositions are featured on “Future Tense”, the latest recording by Eric, Steve Eisen & Andrew Scott Potter.

Learn more about Eric and his music at www.erichochberg.com.

We had a chance to sit down with Eric earlier this year for an interview, and we really got to dig deep into some interesting topics, including:

• trends in the Chicago jazz scene
• national trends in jazz
• the state of jazz venues in the United States
• bass gear choices for the jazz artist
• learning and studying jazz bass

In addition to our interview with Eric, we feature music from the Paul Wertico Trio (Eric Hochberg, bass; Paul Wertico, drums; John Moulder, guitar).  Check out more from this great trio at www.paulwertico.com.

This episode is divided into two parts.  Readers can download the episodes or play them directly from this page below:

Part 1: click to play –  MP3 download

Part 2: click to play – MP3 download

You can also find these episodes on Eric Hochberg’s Contrabass Conversations page.