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E. J. Decker

E. J. Decker grew up the youngest in a musical household: his mother played piano; his father was a big band singer who sang briefly with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. His dad often played Big Band records at home, teaching E. J. the unique qualities of the various bands, and how they swung.

He also taught his number-three son how to sing at an early age. At the same time, E. J.'s older brothers were playing '50s and '60s rock, R&B and jazz without stop. In his teens, E. J. caught many of the great artists playing live in New York area clubs and concerts: Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Leonard Cohen, Oscar Brown, Jr., Jimmy Smith, Alberta Hunter, Leon Russell, Richie Havens, Tom Rush, the original Dave Brubeck Qrt., Genya Ravan, Tom Paxton, the Jefferson Airplane and Sammy Davis, Jr. He learned much from all of them, stole much from most of them—and began finding his own voice.

E. J. sang lead in rock bands and R&B groups for many years, and spent others on the folk music circuit along the West Coast, playing festivals, ballrooms and cafés. During these years, he also acted often in theater and on television, appearing regularly during the 1980s on NBC's now-departed soap opera, "Texas."

Back in New York, E. J. "came home" to his father's music, mixing it with the sounds he'd heard along the way. There, that lush baritone voice serves him well. E. J. glides easily from jazz through standards to rock to folk to '50s R&B and blues—he may well be the strongest, purest male interpreter of ballads of this generation—all while maintaining a consistency of sound and lushness of feel that marks it immediately as an E. J. Decker piece.

Reviewers and fans alike maintain, he definitely has his own sound. Given his background and approach, it's no surprise that E. J.'s style was once described as "biker Gershwin."

Over the years, E. J. has had the honor and good fortune to sing with such great players as Claire Daly, Chris Bergson, Randy Sandke, James Weidman, Dick Griffin, Roni Ben-Hur, David Lahm, Manny Duran, Dena DeRose, Bob Kindred, Saadi Zain, Joe Vincent Tranchina, Ratzo B. Harris, Eric Lewis, Dave Hofstra, Elizabeth Frascoia, Hilliard Greene, Eric McPherson, Peggy Stern, Les Kurtz, Joe Giglio, Tom Melito, Sean Smith, Marshal Rosenberg, and the late Terri Thornton, among many others.

His songwriting skills stand to the fore as well, as seen in his beautiful ballad composition, "(We're) Strangers Now," which appears on his "While The City Sleeps..." album.

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Album Review

E. J. Decker: Bluer Than Velvet: The Prysock Project

Read "Bluer Than Velvet: The Prysock Project" reviewed by Geno Thackara


E.J. Decker probably could write a book if they asked him--his shaping influences and history of musical collaborations (not to mention social activism) would make it a fascinating one indeed--but it would be so much nicer to hear him sing it. A voice smooth as, well, velvet (pardon the obvious simile) lets him put a rich soulful stamp on anything from that Great American Songbook to classic rock or folk. For this long-in-coming labor of love, though, it's all about ...

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Press for BLUER THAN VELVET: THE PRYSOCK PROJECT (Releases April 13, 2018)

Chris Spector, Midwest Record, Lake Zurich, IL: "After hearing Arthur Prysock bring the class, the die was cast. Hitting it out of the park here in the classiest of ways, Decker isn’t aping Prysock so much as he is following in his footsteps. One of the class acts of the past, this is a smoking way to make sure he’s not forgotten."

Press for A JOB OF WORK: TALES OF THE GREAT RECESSION

Sheila Jordan, NEA Jazz Master "You're definitely an original. You certainly are my taste! I just love your sound..."

D. Oscar Groomes, O's Place Jazz Magazine: "E. J. has a wonderfully smooth baritone vocal tone ... Decker delivers each tune with a warm, passionate, punch..."

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