Multi Grammy nominated Eric Du’sean Harland is a composer and drummer and native of Houston, Texas who currently resides on the east coast.  He began his professional career in 1993 playing locally as he finished high school at The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Eric won first chair in 1992-93 with the Regional and All State Jazz Band. He received a special Citation for Outstanding Musicianship in 1994 from the International Association of Jazz Educators. During a workshop in high school, Wynton Marsalis discovered him and encouraged him to study in New York City. Therefore, after graduation, Eric attended Manhattan School of Music with a full scholarship in their music program.

Eric has recorded over 100 recordings with various artists from Terence Blanchard, McCoy Tyner, Charles Lloyd, John Mayer, Dave Holland, Ravi Coltrane, Zakir Hussain and Maria Farantouri to name a few. With Terence Blanchard, Eric has played on 18 motion picture movie scores such as Bo Jangles (with Gregory Hines), Caveman’s Valentine (with Samuel Jackson), Original Sin (with Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie), People I Know (with Al Pacino and Kim Basinger) and Dark Blue (with Kirk Russell). Performing live is one of Eric’s greatest joys and he has had numerous opportunities to play with the greats in the jazz/music industry. Some of these artists include the late, great Betty Carter, Joe Henderson, Charles Lloyd, Joshua Redman, Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, McCoy Tyner, Michael Brecker, John Patitucci and Zakir Hussain.

As far as co-led groups, Eric is part of the “SF Jazz Collective”, a new 8 piece cutting edge group brain stormed by Joshua Redman and featuring members like Stefan Harris, Mark Turner, Ed Simon, Miguel Zenon and more, “The Overtone Quartet” with (Dave Holland, Jason Moran and Chris Potter), “James Farm” with (Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks and Matt Penman), and currently Eric’s own group with Taylor Eigsti, Julian lage, Harish Raghavan and Walter Smith lll.

In Down Beat’s 56th-(2008), 57th-(2009) and 58th-(2010) Critics Poll, Eric was awarded 1st Place in “Rising Star Drums”. The New York Times printed an article featuring Eric Harland stating that “he is …setting the rhythm of jazz’s future.” Eric has also been featured in the Sept. 2002 and Nov. 2009 issues of Modern Drummer. Eric has ventured out into modeling for Lumo Vogue and the New Yorker Magazine by world-renowned photographer Arthur Elgort.