A Brief Musical History of Eric Bascom

I was very lucky to grow up in a home with two wonderful and caring parents who always enjoyed having music in our home and in our lives. My father was a Protestant minister, and the music of the church was always important and present in our home and family life. My mother was a self-taught piano player who never learned to read music and played everything by “ear”. My siblings and I all sang, and one of my brothers took up the drums. By way of our mother, we are first-generation cousins to the late rockabilly pioneer and country music artist, Curtis Gordon. Along with the music of the church, classical music, Broadway show tunes, and the popular music of the times were always present in our home.

I have no memory of ever not wanting to play the guitar. My earliest memories of my attraction to the guitar go back to my early childhood and watching TV shows featuring cowboy singer-actors Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Later, rock ’n’ rollers of the day like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, etc., came into view, along with singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and Neal Young. As I grew older, I discovered blues with artists like Taj Mahal, T-Bone Walker, and Muddy Waters, as well as jazz guitarists Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, and just about anyone else who held and performed with a guitar made a lasting impression on me. Along with my interest in the guitar, non-guitar playing composers and musicians like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and others in jazz, as well as classical composers like Bach, Beethoven, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel all continue to inspire me. Attending live music concerts in all genres of music has always been an important part of my life.

My parents bought me my first guitar from Sears for my thirteenth birthday that was pretty hard to play. After working a paper route, mowing lawns for neighbors, and doing other odd jobs around our neighborhood, by the time I turned fifteen, I had saved up enough money to buy myself a Gibson electric guitar. That was a big deal and the real beginning for me. To finally have a good working guitar that was easier to play helped me to accelerate my playing skills as I learned to play rock ’n’ roll, the blues, and jazz music.

Music, in general, moves me in ways that are deeply rooted inside of me. I think most of us are wired this way. Music finds a home inside of us and stays around. Because of this, I have always wanted to be able to be a participant in making music for myself, with other musicians, and to share this with other people who might find an interest and an inner connection with the music I make.

Professional Career

Eric Bascom, composer, guitarist, singer, and bandleader, performs jazz, blues, and popular music. Eric’s first professional performance came when he was nine years old as one of twelve boy sopranos selected in the state of New Hampshire to perform in a production of Carl Orff’s cantata, “Carmina Burana”. Later, as a self-taught guitarist, Eric had the opportunity to play and perform with some of the finest jazz artists at local jam sessions with drummer Billy Arnold, Majeed Charles Greenlee, Max Roach, Atilla Zoller and others when he was young, and later performing with his own small jazz ensembles performing at art and music festivals, clubs, restaurants, corporate events, colleges, libraries, art galleries, and private parties.

Eric took a hiatus from performing publicly once he married and had children, and began performing publicly again once his children had grown older. First, as a bandleader with vocalist Ethel Lee, as “Ethel Lee and the Eric Bascom Quintet”, where they held down an eight-year residence at Springfield’s premier jazz venue, Caffeine’s Downtown. In 2007, Eric formed a band called Eric Bascom and Blue, featuring Eric on guitar and vocals with Tom Ardolino on drums, Michael George on guitar, and David Wertman on bass violin for the Uno’s Summer Concert Series (2007 – 2008). The Uno’s Summer Concert Series continued with Eric leading other trio ensembles from 2009 – 2015. In between, Eric and his various ensembles appeared in concert with singer-songwriters Livingston Taylor and Tom Rush, and popular music and jazz musician Charles Neville, of the Neville Brothers. Eric and his ensembles have been featured in concerts at the Hoop City Jazz Festival (2011), the Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival (2018), along with long stints of performance at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Weekends and the Spirit of Springfield’s Bright Nights Ball.

Eric continues to perform throughout New England with his jazz trio and other small jazz ensembles performing original works, jazz classics, along with old and new standards from the Great American Song Book and Beyond; as well as performing as a solo artist performing popular music in the “singer-songwriter style” featuring originals, covers of classic rock, Motown, a little country, and classic American standards.

 Discography

 “All That Jazz” by Ethel Lee and the Eric Bascom Quintet, featuring Ethel Lee, vocals; Eric Bascom, guitar, arranger and leader; Mark Barowsky, tenor saxophone and producer; Ed Brainerd, trumpet, flugelhorn and horn arrangements; Gregory Caputo, percussion; and Matthew Gianaros, bass violin. (Released in 2000)

“Trio” by the Eric Bascom Trio, featuring Eric Bascom, guitar, arranger and leader; Ed Brainerd, trumpet, flugelhorn and piano; and Genevieve Rose, bass violin. (Released in. 2007)

“No Enemy” by Eric Bascom, featuring Eric’s original compositions and arrangements with Eric on acoustic and electric guitar; William Arnold on drums; Ed Brainerd on trumpet and flugelhorn; Mario DeCiutiis on MalletKat percussion; Jeff Holmes on trumpet, flugelhorn and piano; Mark Holovnia on drums; Ted Levine on alto saxophone and flute; Genevieve Rose on bass violin; and David Wertman on bass violin. (Released in 2012)

Currently, Eric has been working on new material and looks forward to being back in the studio soon.