New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Veteran musician Eric Heilner presents his versatile compositional debut album titled
Modern Sounds in Classical
Music out on Friday, October 23, 2020.
After decades of playing blues, rock and R&B keyboards, Heilner switched musical gears at the seasoned age of 66 and began studying composition at the Evening School at Juilliard. Six years later, Heilner has recorded his first album, which was produced and engineered by two industry legends, Jack Douglas, producer (John Lennon, Aerosmith, Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, and more) and Jay Messina, lead engineer (Eddie Palmieri, Patti Smith, Aerosmith, KISS, Miles Davis, John Lennon, Cheap Trick,
Peter Frampton, and more). Featured musicians on the album include violists Leah Asher,
Laura Thompson and Nardo Poy, pianists
Erika Dohi and Henry Hey, flutist
Laura Cocks, clarinetist John Hong, guitarist Teddy Kumpel, violinists Michael Roth and Robert Chausow, cellist
Jesse Levy, soprano sax Lou "Blue Lou" Marini, alto sax Lawrence Feldman, tenor sax Todd Groves, baritone sax
Roger Rosenberg, and "The Hum-dingers."
The music on the album is rigorously through-composed, but in a unique way that blends poly-rhythms, Motown bass figures, and Heilner's keen ear for melody - as well as his wry sense of humor. The combination has created a singularly accessible style, made all the more impactful by Douglas' signature production techniques.
Pre-Orders are available now at Bandcamp: https://bit.ly/BandcampEricHeilner