Born: October 4, 1973 Primary Instrument: Drums
Eric John Eigner plays Drumset, Table-top Percussion and Bass Clarinet.
Eigner has released three CD’s from his Mysterium Project on Eavesdrop Records, a label he set up as a platform for contemporary work. Eigner works in a number of diverse Soundpainting projects and has performed with the Walter Thompson Orchestra, the New York Soundpainting Orchestra and ZAHA. Eigner is also a member of the international Soundpainting community. He currently is involved in a duo project with composer/guitarist Bruce Holmberg, the John Nickels Band and the Michael Wagner Quartet. Eigner has worked with Butch Morris, Reuben Radding, Kenny Wollesen’s Himalayas, the CAVEnsemble, Shinichi MOMO Koga, Mark Stewart, Sabir Mateen, Steve Swell, Daniel Carter, Nate Wooley, Matt Lavelle, Greg Tate’s Burnt Sugar and poet Steve Dalachinsky. Eigner has played in a number of other bands, from Steve Albini produced Pillow Theory, the eclectic Balkan thrash band The Trophy Wives, to Earthdriver, a band made up of a wide variety of international talent who join forces to create a unified musical and social statement.
In addition to music, Eigner is also a working Painter and Photographer that exhibits in New York.
Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, May 2009
“It’s all over the bleedin place, echoplex drenched guitar and trumpet, scattershot shrieking, plucky minimalism, even some breakbeats. These guys have really listened a lot, and have incorporated some very diverse elements into a wild, rambling voice that is sure to grab you.”
Jason Bivins, Cadence Magazine, October 2004
“Well recorded and balanced, this is high-end improv that moves quickly through focused, constantly changing dialogue. There is a sublime, organic flow and thread of close listening going on here as each of these long pieces evolve through different sections.”
Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, December 2003
“An active sound experience. Mysterium grabs hold and forces the listener to hang on for a wild multi-genre ride. Using jazz, drum and bass, blues, rock, funk and some down right nasty noise to produce a trans-generational improvisational engagement.”
Elliott Simon, All About Jazz, June 2004.
“For all the strange cross-pollination of styles, often going on at the same time, there is a strange sense of unity. Each member of the trio has ears big enough to follow leads, and enough personal vision to create direction. Mysterium is a surprisingly likable album from a group that would be even more engaging in person.”
John Kelman, All About Jazz, May 2004.
“The saxophonist carries gamely on, sounding some gorgeous bugle calls and singsong melodies, while drums and guitar play Space Invader ping-pong in the background. When Eigner switches to clarinet there are moments in which the whole group leaves the ground.”
David Keenen, The WIRE, June 2004.
”Mysterium for Quintet is one of the most enjoyable free Jazz outings I've heard of late. This quintet of multi-talented artists draws on all their resources tapping into a deep vein of American music. Over the course of nine tracks, they touch on everything from Bird bop to bird songs. David Dupont, Cadence Magazine, June 2007
“The tensions among all the genres rubbing shoulders in the music generate some genuinely novel moments, passages where the music doesn't sound much like anything else ever played.”
Ed Hazell, Signal to Noise, Winter 2007
“For Quintet, the fine second release under its aegis has a vitality that suggests there is plenty of mileage here. Tight and funky or fragmented and freewheeling as occasion demands… Stretching out without sprawling on nine shorter tracks, the quintet conveys the same quality of relaxed directedness on the 50 minute free improvisation that occupies the second CD of this satisfying set.”
Julian Cowley, The Wire, November 2006
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Primary Instrument:
Drums
Location:
Brooklyn, NY
