At five-years-old, after attending a performance of the “Nutcracker” with its live orchestra and a cast of dancers in colorful costumes, pianist/composer Eric Verlinde begged his family to buy him an instrument. “Of course, I fell in love with it,” he said. “I thought it was one of the most powerful things you could experience, so I wanted to be a part of it.”

At intermission, he walked over to the orchestra pit and peered down at the musicians. “I just totally felt that was what I needed to do,” he said.

That Christmas, his family surprised him with a small electric piano that had a record player attached to it. His parents also saved up to eventually purchase him an upright piano from a local daycare facility. The family’s limited finances did not stop them from encouraging Eric to follow his dream.

Eric was born in Everett, Washington on May 24, 1976 with a bilateral cleft palate, a heart murmur, a broken shoulder and a doctor’s prognosis that he would only live for three days. “My parents didn’t know if I was going to live or if I was going to die right there,” says Verlinde. “I spent a lot of time in hospitals and doctors’ offices.”

Now at age 28, Eric runs his own production company, Freedom Jazz Productions. He recently released his fourth CD, entitled “Daily Grind,” out now. The album features his trio. Eric started his own trio in 1999. “I’m excited because it’s my first CD with all original compositions,” said Eric.

Eric has composed more than 100 pieces of music in many different genres, including jazz, gospel, funk, electronic, neoclassical, latin jazz, avant-garde, rock, R&B and rap. He has played all over the world, in such places as Paris, Berlin, London, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hawaii and Vancouver, B.C. Eric currently makes his home in Seattle with his wife Mitzi. He spends his time teaching by day and playing at night. For a list of his current gigs, click here.

Eric grew up in Snohomish with his parents and two younger sisters, Sarah and Jennifer. His mother, Blanca, an immigrant from Costa Rica, moved to the Northwest when she was 16 and went to nursing school in Everett. His father, Arthur, grew up in Seattle, and has been a landscaper for the Evergreen State Fairgrounds for almost 30 years. Although his mother is partial to classical music and Tijuana brass, his father craves classic rock and hard rock tunes. “My dad plays the meanest air guitar this side of the Mississippi,” says Eric.

As a child, Eric’s parents would often take him to shows and concerts, among other cultural events. “I was very much immersed in the arts growing up,” he said. Eric’s Aunt Maggie recognized her nephew’s musical aptitude and advised him to take classical lessons with local piano teacher Pat Reeves, which he did from ages 6-16. Eric and his family would perform odds and ends for Pat in exchange for lessons. Eric studied and grew in classical music, excelling in competitions every year. “Pat taught me a lot,” said Eric. “She taught me abo ut all of the good things that go to music, all of the things that make music special.” With Pat’s schooling, he learned about dynamics, phrasing and articulation, but mostly the feeling that goes behind the music. “That became a very personal quest for me to start playing using emotions—using music to express my emotions and using emotions to express music,” said Eric.

When he was 12-years-old, Eric wanted to play in his school’s band. Without a piano in the concert band, Eric chose to pick up the drums, playing timpani, bells, snare drums and percussion for four years. He joined Mike Mi ne’s Valley View Junior High School Jazz Band in Snohomish. “It was the first time I got to improvise. I got to make up my own things and it was cool. It was accepted,” said Eric. “It wasn’t as restrictive as classical.”

While Eric was in the band, Mines gave him tapes of Count Basie to listen to.
“That’s where I started to be really interested in Jazz,” said Eric. With his early interest in music, Eric became a member of the National Music Teacher’s Association at age 14. Two years later, after working long, hard hours for eight months on a Shostakovich piano concert for a competition and coming in second, Eric found that he favored the immediate gratification of Jazz over classical music.

To raise enough money to attend Frank Dimerio’s Jazz Camp, Eric performed his own self-promoted concert, renting his high school’s performing arts center and hiring an opening act. At the camp, he met all sorts of musicians who would mentor him. One of his mentors was Kirk Marcey, Eric’s piano teacher in high school, who was influential along the path of Eric’s career, teaching him about voicings and how to improvise. Eric participated in jazz choir and jazz band in high school. After high school, he received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he attended for a year to further his studies in jazz.

Another of his mentors was Dave Barduhn, director of Genesis. Eric toured with him around the country, performing about 180 gigs every school year--some with Marc Murphy, Louise Rose and New York Voices, and recorded two CDs. When Eric was a student at Bellevue Community College, he won the award for best pianist in the college division at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. After moving back to Seattle, he performed with Jon Fedchock and Randy Brecker in the Bellevue Community College Big Band, making appearances in Paris and Berlin.

Eric continues to express himself through writing and recording music. He strives to say exactly what he wants in music, surpassing technique and physical and mental boundaries. Eric maintains no preconceived notions of what the music should be. He plays what’s happening in the moment.
“I let the music play me, rather than me playing the music,” said Eric.

-by Jessica Davis