Eric Lewis Quartet

Once upon a time, Eric Lewis was a decorated, up-and-coming jazz pianist, a sideman for Wynton Marsalis and Elvin Jones, among others, and the winner of the 1999 Thelonious Monk International Piano competition. A decade into his career, he had an epiphany. The songs he was playing weren’t speaking to him the way he wanted them to: while they were part of the traditional jazz repertoire, they weren’t part of his own emotional repertoire. On the other hand, there were contemporary rock songs whose lyrics meant the world to him. Lewis considered the landscape, drew the curtain, and reemerged as ELEW, a revolutionary artist who combines virtuosic skill on the grand piano with an unprecedented openness to modern pop and rock music. <br>Jazz pianists have always interpreted popular songs. Art Tatum did. Bud Powell did. But at some point, jazz detached from rock and roll. ELEW has fused the two together and, in the process, created a new genre, rockjazz. Over the course of two albums, ELEW has interpreted and reenergized songs by Coldplay, Nirvana, Radiohead, the Foo Fighters, The Bravery, Michael Jackson, and more. And the choice of material is only part of rockjazz. ELEW treats the grand piano the way a traditional rock front man treats the guitar, with an explosively physical style that includes entering the instrument to pluck the strings directly. Onstage, he is overtly theatrical, standing to play and even wearing specially designed pieces of forearm armor called vambraces. <br>In addition to his groundbreaking recordings and performances, ELEW has collaborated with a host of other artists. He joined forces with platinum-selling rapper Lil Wayne, providing the piano background for “IANAHB,” the opening track on Lil Wayne’s 2013 album “I Am Not a Human Being II.” Last year, Complexions Contemporary Ballet Co-Artistic Directors/Founders Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson announced a five-year partnership with ELEW that named him Composer in Residence at CCB. This partnership will yield a new work every year through 2017; the first fruits of the collaboration were presented in November 2012 at Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s New York Season at the Joyce Theater. Perhaps the most exciting development in ELEW’s evolution as an artist is his burgeoning career as a DJ. While turntable artists combine songs with the aid of technology, ELEW is able to present them simultaneously with his own mastery of the piano. The result is yet another unprecedented hybrid—this time, the ingredients are not rock and jazz, but rather vinyl and ivory, the concert and then the afterparty. <br>As a result of his records and his performances, his devotion to both the history of jazz and the importance of redirecting that history, ELEW has earned a legion of prominent fans, including Josh Groban (who he supported on Groban’s “Straight to You” tour of more than sixty North American arenas), Dave Matthews, Naomi Campbell, Forest Whitaker, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brooke Shields, and Woody Harrelson. He has performed at the behest of Google, Fendi, Disney, and Mercedes Benz. Donna Karan included his music on her iPhone app. And ELEW has even taken rockjazz to the White House, where he played for Barack and Michelle Obama in the East Room. <br /><br />Bar Filipowicz is an Israeli electric and upright bass player, composer, and performer based in the jazz scene of New York City. Born on August 15th, 2001, at only 22 years old, Bar has already achieved a great deal in his musical career. <br><br>Bar began his musical journey playing classical guitar at the age of 8 before transitioning to the electric bass a year later. Though he had a teacher, Bar taught himself how to play the electric bass, primarily by studying the music of Jaco Pastorius. At 12 years old, Bar was awarded a full scholarship to study at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he developed his sound and deepened his understanding of jazz music. <br><br>In 2018, at the age of 17, Bar began teaching himself how to play the upright bass and later on studied with Jerusalem based bassist Tal Gamlieli and quickly became a fixture in the jazz scene in Jerusalem. He performed at the Red Sea Jazz Festival and Jerusalem Jazz Festival before receiving a scholarship to study at the CJS program in Tel Aviv after graduating from high school in 2019. During his time there, he became a part of the Tel Aviv jazz scene and joined the Ron Minis Trio, with whom he has been traveling and touring the world since then. <br><br>With the Ron Minis Trio, Bar has had the opportunity to perform at some of the most prestigious jazz festivals and venues around the world, including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Jazz Ahead Jazz Festival in Germany, Nue Jazz Festival in Germany, and the legendary MPS Studios, to name a few. In 2022, Bar signed an endorsement agreement with the guitars and bass company B&G and in 2024 signed with La Bella strings, GruvGear and Aguilar amps. <br><br>In 2024, Bar recorded bass for Noga Erez’s single “VANDALIST” under Atlantic Records label. <br><br>Bar moved to New York in 2022 and has quickly become a part of the city's jazz scene. He has played and studied with some of his heroes and performs regularly as a sideman and bandleader. He was introduced by the drummer from Ron Minis Trio Yogev Gabay to the international award-winning pianist from Azerbaijan, Emil Afrasyiab, who invited him to join his trio. Bar had the opportunity to play with Emil at the 65th edition of the Monterey Jazz Festival in California and was featured in a video by the renowned cymbals company Meinl. <br><br>In 2023, Bass legend and NEA jazz master Reggie Workman has hired Bar to be his Official Sub and stand in for his own band’s shows. Bar has shared the stage with NEA jazz masters Billy Harper, Billy Hart and Reggie workman as part of major NYC jazz Festivals. <br><br>In the past year Bar has been co - leading a band called VERACITY. A band of established musicians in the city, bringing original compositions and arrangements to the front. <br>The new band has already gained popularity, playing at some of NY’s major venues and festivals. With a local US tour coming up this summer, the band is already planned to play an International tour right after. <br><br>Currently based in Brooklyn, Bar is continuing to develop his unique sound and grow as an established prominent bassist in the jazz world. His dedication to his craft and his passion for music promise to lead him to even greater success in the years to come. <br /><br />This artist does not have a bio yet.