Capelton Road

Capelton Road is the new trio recording by pianist Eric Harding. It consists of nine original compositions (two of which are solo) and three standards including a Thelonious Monk composition.The musicians in this group are three of Montreal's finest and they succeed in producing a variety of moods and textures that will appeal to a variety of listeners. This is jazz but with some pop sensibility and the compositions here display Eric's firm grounding in jazz,latin and pop styles. Eric Harding grew up in Montreal playing drums and piano while in high school. He later studied classical piano in Montreal under Jean Werenfels. In the late 70's and early 80's Eric did a lot of professional work in the Montreal area playing piano and organ on the pop circuit. In the early 1980's he studied piano with Armas Maiste and Steve Holt and completed a music degree in Jazz Piano Performance at McGill University. After working in Toronto for two years Eric retuned to Montreal and completed a Diploma in Music Education at McGill. In 1998 he received a Canada Council Grant to travel to New York and study piano with Fred Hersch and in 2001 he was the recepient of another Canada Council grant and released his first CD, quot;Deadlinequot;, as a leader on the Effendi Label. Eric is presently very active on the Montreal scene teaching and playing, and has recorded and performed with Ray Anderson, Slide Hampton, Sonny Fortune, Roddy Alais, Dave Turner, Janis Steprans, Richard Parris, Guido Basso and Charlie Biddle, as well as being a long time member of the Bernard Primeau Jazz Ensemble up until 2002. He has recorded four discs with this group while touring Quebec, Europe and western Canada. They won the Felix Leclerc Award for Best Quebec Jazz Album for 1997 and1998 . Eric can be heard on the CD of guitarist Michael Gauthier (Reflections In Blue), as well as CD's by Jacques Labelle and Nancy Martinez and a recent recording of Guido Basso and Dave Turner entitled Dedications on the Justin Time label . He is presently touring with Quebec actress and singer Dorothee Berryman and has appeared on her most recent disc 'P.S. I Love You' as pianist and musical director. Eric has two discs out under his own name; Thevcritically acclaimed 'Deadline' which was released in 2001 on Effendi Records and quot;Capelton Roadquot; which has been released in September 2006 on the Productions XXI Label. Eric is presently on staff teaching jazz piano and jazz improv at Vanier College.