"I was raised with old school R&B Soul"
From the time of his birth in Buffalo NY, CRiTT was immersed in the funk and feel-good soul sound of Motown – after-all his father played with James Brown for 13 years. But it was later on in his 20’s that he really discovered jazz and organic self expression. Listening to and being influenced by Eddie Harris, Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and Pink Floyd to name a few, completely changed his life and he started on a path of feel-good genre mixing that is accessible to everyone. “For me, in order to go forward you have to go back,” says CRiTT “I was raised with old school R&B and soul. This is who and what I am all about, however this is a new era and music needs evolution and I’m fortunate to be able to do my part.”
A respected educator, CriTT along-side his wife Ann Marie designed and created The IMAGE Urban Arts Workshop in 2005 which is co-sponsored by New Era Cap. Annually Eric conducts over 100 workshops and edutainment performances. CRiTT has a degree in Music Performance by Empire State College and teaches music at Tapestry Charter School in Buffalo NY.
CRiTT initially earned respect on the national touring scene by playing with the likes of Mickey Hart and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, Michael Franti and G-Love & Special Sauce to name a few. He has won many awards and in 2000 he was hired to assemble the backing band and arrange the music of Sopranos star Dominic Chianese. He has also consulted on and scored two independent films “The Darker the Berry the Sweeter the Juice” in 1997 and “The Cuckold” in 2007. His last record “Blu” featured Eric Krasno of Soulive and Rob Wasserman and he is currently working on his next recording.
