ABOUt
Eric Ching is a jazz drummer and composer currently residing in Portland, OR. He plays music with a tremendous amount of purpose and is infinitely creative in the way he manages color and shape.
With his compositions, he aims to explore new territory while channeling the spirits of McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Kenny Garrett. His pieces all have a searching quality where he isn't quite sure what he's looking for, but he'll know when he's found it. He yearns for the unexpected and his songs gradually unfold like a Tarantino movie.
Eric grew up in the SF Bay Area where he studied with Akira Tana (renowned jazz drummer) and spent much of his time driving up to the city to go to jam sessions.
Then, he went to New York University for Music Education where he studied under Ron McClure (renowned jazz bassist) and Sean Statser (NYU Percussion). It was a wonderful experience living in NYC where you could see jazz legends for as little as $3 and be surrounded with like-minded individuals.
His main influences on the drums are Kenny Washington, Christopher Brown, and Tony Williams. A few of his favorite artists are Kenny Garrett, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Gretchen Parlato, iiii, Robert Glasper, Frank Ocean, and D'Angelo.
Some of the people he has played with are Robbie Laws (award winning blues guitarist), George Colligan (renowned jazz pianist), Reggie Houston (Fats Domino Band), Ben Rice (award winning blues guitarist), Charlie Porter (Grammy winning trumpet player), and many more!
