AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Eric Darius

Artist:Eric Darius

Song:If I Ain't Got You

Album:Just Getting Started

Eric Darius is a jazz saxophonist who had success on the smooth jazz charts twenty years ago. These days he records for his own label so he's not as successful. I'm sure he misses that big label promotion budget. But he's still out there playing and that's how you keep going in the smooth jazz market. He was born Dec. 3, 1982 in Livingston, NJ but he grew up in Tampa. His father is Haitian and his mother is Jamaican. His whole family played music and listened to R&B. He was in church at nine years old when he saw someone play a saxophone. He loved the sound so much that his parents bought him a saxophone for his birthday. Then he started performing with Sonny LaRosa and America's Youngest Jazz Band. This band had kids from the ages of five to twelve. They even played the Montreux Jazz Festival. This is when Darius decided to be a musician. As a teen, he started his own band and played Tampa clubs. His father was his manager. He also played in his high school jazz band and released an album at age 17. Darius studied business and music at University of South Florida. While still in college, he signed a record deal with Narada's Higher Octave label. His debut album Night on the Town was released in 2004 and reached #32 on the jazz chart. This cover of Alicia Keys' If I Ain't Got You is from the 2006 album Just Getting Started on Narada and it reached #18 on the jazz chart. Most of the other songs were written by Darius or the producers Brian Culbertson, Darren Rahn, Euge Groove or Norman Brown. Rahn produced If I Ain't Got You. This album is available as a digital download. Then Darius signed with Blue Note and released the 2008 album Goin' All Out. This was mostly produced by Rahn. That was his only Blue Note album. Since then Darius has recorded for his own label. He still tours and he does a lot of these smooth jazz cruises. Darius has a new single out so I expect a new album soon. Smooth jazz fans should enjoy his music. Try something else if you're looking for something more adventurous. Here's Eric Darius with Melanie Shore on keyboards, Kenji Aihara on guitar, Denson Angulo on bass and Joel Stevenett on drums performing If I Ain't Got You on the Cannonball Stage at The Villa in Sandy, UT. Cannonball is his saxophone sponsor.