“Love actualized”
NEW original christmas SINGLE - dropping on Friday 11/22!
I’d like to share the heart warming story of how my original Christmas radio single “Love Actualized” came to be.
7 years ago I met an incredible woman named Luanne who filled my heart with such genuine joy and happiness. It was a profound connection and the love was deeper than anything we had ever experienced in our lives. After introducing her to my three wonderful children, everything just seemed to magically come together. Long story short, Luanne and I have been married for 6 years now. Dreams do come true!
I was inspired to write her a song for our wedding and decided to surprise her and my kids by playing it for the very first time on Christmas Day. They all loved the song and over the years my family continually reminded me of how beautiful and timeless the soprano sax melody is. With all that said, I decided to give the song a special holiday treatment so that I could share it with you to enjoy during this Christmas season. Happy Holidays from my family to yours!
Produced & Arranged by Jeffrey Carruthers
“SENSITIVITY”
THE NEW RADIO SINGLE - OUT NOW!
“Sensitivity”, a modern smooth jazz cover of Ralph Tresvant’s 90's R&B smash hit, is the next single to drop from Eric Knight’s debut album, Cover 2 Cover - Vol. 1.
From the conception of this album, “Sensitivity” was one of the first songs Eric & Wolf made a commitment to cover. They both grew up listening to it and have never stopped loving it!
It’s a perfect mixture of funky and feel-good vibes that will have you hooked from the very first beat. Soaring on top of this classic new jack swing groove are Eric Knight's silky smooth and unforgettable sax melodies, transporting you to a whole new realm of musical bliss. With each note, he proves that he's a true virtuoso, leaving you craving for more.
Produced by Steven Wolf
“CASH IN”
NEW RADIO SINGLE - OUT NOW!
Get ready to be captivated by Eric’s debut ORIGINAL single, "Cash In"!
Two years ago Eric Knight met an absolutely incredible musician, writer, recording engineer, and producer. “Watching Rodge Nelson wear so many hats during our time together in recording sessions was extremely impressive to me”, said Knight. After becoming good friends over the last couple of years they decided to team up to create a collection of music together. “Cash in” is the first of many to come!
The production features an all-star of some of today’s top session musicians, including Brian Dunne (drums), David Dyson (bass), Daniel Sadownick (percussion), Carnell Harrel (Keys), & Mike Ciro (guitar - featured solo).
“CAN WE TALK”
NEW RADIO SINGLE - OUT NOW!
“Can We Talk", a modern cover of Tevin Campbell’s 90’s R&B smash hit, is the third single from Eric Knight’s debut album, Cover to Cover - Vol. 1. Following Eric’s funky spin on Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and his updated take on SWV’s iconic ballad “Weak”, Eric & Wolf wanted a mid tempo iconic R&B hit as the next cover.
“Can We Talk" was at the top of their list. It features an incredibly catchy Babyface melody, perfect for Eric to sing through his sax. It also has an exceptionally rich harmonic texture, which is ideal for Eric’s jazz rendition of the song.
Plus, the song has recently enjoyed a resurgence thanks to The “Can We Talk” Challenge trending on social media.
The production features an all-star cast of today’s top session musicians, including Bobby Sparks (Snarky Puppy) and Marcus Machado (Jon Batiste).
WATCH THE OFFICIAL VIDEO:
“WEAK”
THE SINGLE - OUT NOW
When Eric & Wolf were picking the songs for Cover to Cover, vol. 1, they knew they needed a strong R&B ballad.
After making a list of popular ballads, the choice was clear. "Weak" is such an iconic song with a beautiful melody just perfect for sax. It’s lush chord changes work well in a jazz context and it’s got a deep groove.
Wolf then reached out to Brian Alexander Morgan, the musical mastermind behind all of SWV’s hits,
to simply ask Brian if he knew if anyone had released an instrumental cover of “Weak”.
Brian not only gave Wolf & Eric his blessing to cover the song, he graciously offered to sing on the record!
“CRAZY”
THE DEBUT RADIO SINGLE - OUT NOW!
Eric’s debut radio single is finished; a unique contemporary jazz cover of the massive global hit “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley. The track, which will appear on the forthcoming album called “Cover to Cover - Vol. 1” was co-produced and mixed by Multi-Platinum Drummer/Programmer Steven Wolf (Grover Washington Jr., David Bowie, Chaka Khan, P!nk, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Aretha Franklin, Miley Cyrus), Yaron Fuchs (Herbie Hancock, John Mayer, Sting, Paul Simon, Brian McKnight), and Spencer Hattendorf (Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion, Jimmy Fallon).
Performances by keyboardist / pianist Bobby Sparks (Snarky Puppy, Marcus Miller, Kirk Franklin), pianist Andy Ezrin (Chris Botti, David Sanborn, Michael Bublé), guitarist Marcus Machado (Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway, Anderson .Paak), and bassist Will Lee (Late Show with David Letterman, The Brecker Brothers, George Benson).
Stream / Download it now and please share it with family and friends. Thank you!
UPCOMING LIVE DATES
Dates are added regularly. To be notified when we book a date near you, please go here and click “FOLLOW”.
Interested in booking Eric for a festival, club date, or private event? Please contact us.
DISCOGRAPHY
MORE RECORDINGS THAT INCLUDE ERIC KNIGHT
Click the covers to listen, download, and stream:
ABOUT ERIC
Eric Knight is a world-class veteran saxophonist who has recorded, performed, and toured major acts such as The Rolling Stones, Prince, J. Lo, Etta James, Hiram Bullock, Randy Brecker, and the list goes on….
Eric grew up 40 miles north of NYC in Rockland County. He started playing the saxophone and studying music intensely at the age of 11 when he entered 6th grade. By 7th grade he was playing in the high school bands and by 10th grade he was invited to play in Nyack College’s Orchestra. Knight attended Western Michigan University on a music scholarship from 1996 through 1998. His focus was on jazz studies and performance.
At the age of 16, Eric started venturing out to perform in public by “sitting-in” with jazz, blues, and rock bands at dozens of different NYC venues to start honing his craft. One of his favorite memories is sitting in on a few tunes with the legendary Doc Cheatham and his band at the old famous jazz club “Sweet Basil’s” in Greenwich Village which closed in 2001.
Attending all these types of “jam sessions” led to Knight making relationships with some of the top working live & session musicians in NYC during the late 90’s. Then the professional gig calls started coming in! One awesome gig that comes to mind was playing horn section parts with Mark Pender (Trumpeter with Max Weinberg 7) for Glen Burtnick’s Xmas Xtravaganza which put Eric on stage performing with Patty Smyth, Phoebe Snow, STYX, Patti Smith, Marshal Crenshaw, John Waite, among many others!
Another epic and unforgettable experience for Knight was having the honor and privilege to open for Grover Washington Jr. for a few shows in New Jersey. In Eric’s opinion, Grover was the Godfather of the smooth jazz format and will always be one of his top musical heroes.
During the spring of 2000 he was given the opportunity to audition for the 1st national tour of a Broadway Show called, “SWING!” that debuted at the St. James Theatre in 1999. After being offered and accepting the Alto sax chair he went on to perform in the show from the fall of 2000 through the spring of 2003 touring all over the US and for a couple of months in Japan during the summer of 2002.
In 2004 he received a call from Hiram Bullock and was asked to play horn section parts on a few tracks along side Randy Brecker and Donny McCaslin on Hiram’s 2005 release called “Too Funky 2 Ignore”. Eric is also a featured soloist on the title track of the record, “Too Funky 2 Ignore”.
While traveling on tour Eric became close friends with the shows musical director & pianist, Doug Oberhamer as well as one of the shows guitarist’s, Sean Harkness. In 2008 Sean and Eric paired up and recorded a Contemporary Jazz album called, “Harkness Knight” which was released in June of 2009. Besides Sean & Eric, this album featured the talents of some amazing drummers such as Joel Rosenblatt (Spyro Gyra), Jonathan Mover (Marillion & GTR), Ricky Lawson (Michael Jackson & Stevie Wonder), Simon Phillips (Toto, Jeff Beck) Thierry Arpino (Larry Coryell & Jean-Luck Ponty), and Jeff Haynes (Pat Metheny & Harry Belafonte) on percussion.
Then in 2022, Eric and his long time friend Doug Oberhamer got together and created a smooth jazz band called KnightHammer! Their first single called, “Kickin’ It” debuted in July and has been played on radio stations all over the world. Then in September they released their 2nd single called “Afterglow” which is a more intimate feature of Knight’s sound and approach on sax. KnightHammer will be releasing two more single’s before this year is up, the first one of which will be an original Christmas song called “Christmas, I Love You” followed by another original called, “Beyond the Vista”.
In early 2023 Eric will be releasing his debut album called “Cover to Cover - Vol. 1” which is being co-produced and mixed by Multi-Platinum Drummer/Programmer Steven Wolf (Grover Washington Jr., David Bowie, Chaka Khan, P!nk, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Aretha Franklin, Miley Cyrus), Yaron Fuchs (Herbie Hancock, John Mayer, Sting, Paul Simon, Brian McKnight), and Spencer Hattendorf (Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion, Jimmy Fallon).
BOOKING + CONTACT
For booking or session inquiries and correspondence, please fill out the form below and Eric’s team will get back to you.