Eric Lewis

Artist Description

Producing something completely new and meaningful, Eric Lewis fills a void within the fabric of our culture—a hole we didn’t even know was there. Fusing traditional jazz with elements of modern rock and pop, ELEW’s masterful originals and blistering re-interpretations have ignited the interest of the country’s tastemakers and those in the cultural know. But more than this, he possesses that ineffable spark that we only associate with true genius.

ELEW has toured the world, recorded, and performed continuously with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Elvin Jones, Cassandra Wilson, Roy Hargrove, and Joe Henderson among others. And, 1999 offered a formal confirmation of what was rapidly becoming clear when ELEW won the Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition.

Today, bolstered by his virtuosic quartet, ELEW has created a riveting new sound that is at once fresh and classic. In the jazz tradition of interpreting popular tunes of the day, much like Art Tatum and John Coltrane, ELEW manipulates and performs renditions of rock and pop songs by today’s top artists. A musical contortionist, his compositions twist, turn, and careen between styles, sounds, and emotions, resulting in a stunning aural experience. His new style is becoming so popular that his gigs are beginning to extend into the realm of film industry, opening new doors for his talent to be recognized.

In addition to scoring award-winning independent features like Pete Chatmon’s Premium and 761st, as well as Michael Kirk’s A Trumpet At The Walls Of Jericho, he has contributed music to Hollywood blockbusters like The Great Debaters. Additionally, the Joffrey Ballet has commissioned an all-new ballet based on Eric Robert Lewis’s original composition Puerto Rico, and he is also composing a 30-minute piece of music for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

A true Renaissance man, he is the voice of a new generation—with one foot firmly planted in the past, and the other striding into the future, he precisely captures the disposition of an age where looking backward is often the same thing as looking ahead.