[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/GLGiP9j.png?1[/img:$uid]


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April 2016

Like everyone else, Eric Leeds was shocked to learn of Prince’s death Thursday, but the saxophonist who played with him from 1984 to 1990 says he never could imagine Prince growing old and that the rocker is now “frozen in time” for his fans.

Leeds, a Milwaukee native who grew up in Pittsburgh and studied at Duquesne University, was part of Prince’s inner circle during one of the legendary rocker’s creative peaks. He landed the gig through his brother, Alan, who was Prince’s road manager in the height of the “Purple Rain” era.

Eric Leeds, 64, toured with Prince as a member of The Family and The Revolution, worked with him in the studio on 65 to 70 sessions from 1985 well into the ‘90s, and was later signed to Paisley Park Records for a string of jazz albums, including two in the Prince side project Madhouse.

He currently leads the jazz band LP Music along with fellow Prince alum, keyboardist St. Paul Peterson. Prince recently visited a Minneapolis club to check in on his former band members. Leeds talked about that and his time with Prince in an interview Saturday.

Read the full interview here.

Identity said:

[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/GLGiP9j.png?1[/img:$uid]


Link

April 2016

Like everyone else, Eric Leeds was shocked to learn of Prince’s death Thursday, but the saxophonist who played with him from 1984 to 1990 says he never could imagine Prince growing old and that the rocker is now “frozen in time” for his fans.

Leeds, a Milwaukee native who grew up in Pittsburgh and studied at Duquesne University, was part of Prince’s inner circle during one of the legendary rocker’s creative peaks. He landed the gig through his brother, Alan, who was Prince’s road manager in the height of the “Purple Rain” era.

Eric Leeds, 64, toured with Prince as a member of The Family and The Revolution, worked with him in the studio on 65 to 70 sessions from 1985 well into the ‘90s, and was later signed to Paisley Park Records for a string of jazz albums, including two in the Prince side project Madhouse.

He currently leads the jazz band LP Music along with fellow Prince alum, keyboardist St. Paul Peterson. Prince recently visited a Minneapolis club to check in on his former band members. Leeds talked about that and his time with Prince in an interview Saturday.

Read the full interview here.

Eric Leeds has appeared to me as one of his most honest and rational bandmembers over the years. He'll tell it like it is. He won't go banas in any direction, just tell the truth. He would also be honest about what he liked about Prince music, and what he didn't love as much, without being disrespectful. He wasn't about kissing ass, but he had a huge amount of respect for Prince.

That man was one of my favourite and probably one of the most important sideman back in the day. Always enjoyed his cool and sober statements, just as much as this interview. As a jazz brassman he´s probably used to have people die at younger age. Interesting what he says about Atlanta Bliss. Never had him in mind as a big contributor.

Replica said:

Identity said:

[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/GLGiP9j.png?1[/img:$uid]


Link

April 2016

Like everyone else, Eric Leeds was shocked to learn of Prince’s death Thursday, but the saxophonist who played with him from 1984 to 1990 says he never could imagine Prince growing old and that the rocker is now “frozen in time” for his fans.

Leeds, a Milwaukee native who grew up in Pittsburgh and studied at Duquesne University, was part of Prince’s inner circle during one of the legendary rocker’s creative peaks. He landed the gig through his brother, Alan, who was Prince’s road manager in the height of the “Purple Rain” era.

Eric Leeds, 64, toured with Prince as a member of The Family and The Revolution, worked with him in the studio on 65 to 70 sessions from 1985 well into the ‘90s, and was later signed to Paisley Park Records for a string of jazz albums, including two in the Prince side project Madhouse.

He currently leads the jazz band LP Music along with fellow Prince alum, keyboardist St. Paul Peterson. Prince recently visited a Minneapolis club to check in on his former band members. Leeds talked about that and his time with Prince in an interview Saturday.

Read the full interview here.

Eric Leeds has appeared to me as one of his most honest and rational bandmembers over the years. He'll tell it like it is. He won't go banas in any direction, just tell the truth. He would also be honest about what he liked about Prince music, and what he didn't love as much, without being disrespectful. He wasn't about kissing ass, but he had a huge amount of respect for Prince.

Yes,you are 100 percent correct. That's one of the things I've loved about Eric over the years.

Ok he has a point as far as Prince's image and legacy for the future, but of course that comes at a cost of P living some more good years. And all he could have contributed to the world, as well. When he wasn't in the news or doing concerts, I always hoped he was just chilling in Hawaii on a beach somewhere, enjoying life and relaxing. So he could have done that more as he grew older. Damn.

,

[Edited 4/25/16 0:10am]

Replica said:

Leeds has appeared to me as one of his most honest and rational bandmembers over the years. He'll tell it like it is. He won't go banas in any direction, just tell the truth. He would also be honest about what he liked about Prince music, and what he didn't love as much, without being disrespectful. He wasn't about kissing ass, but he had a huge amount of respect for Prince.

I agree. I met him once at an Fdeluxe show, and he was very down-to-Earth. His saxophone sound is something I will always associate with the "golden" years of mainly '85 to '88 in Prince's music (especially the live music). At the Fdeluxe show, it was Eric's sax playing that really brought back the flavor of those years for me. His interviews are usually interesting and I enjoyed his perspective in this one, especially the parts about life on the road during the Lovesexy tour (and the stuff about Prince reserving some lanes at the bowling alley).

Very nice article. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the article, I understand what Eric means when he talks about Prince not being meant to grow old, it's hard to picture the guy who wrote Head in his 70s I guess but all the same I (and all of us) would obviously much prefer that he did get that chance, and I would have loved to see how he would have matured as he entered old age.

As an aside, does anyone know what's happening for FDeluxe, have they broken up for good? The article mentions that Eric and St Paul are in a jazz group together but says nothing about FDeluxe.

Absolutely fantastic interview-Thanks so much for posting

Got a lot of respect for Eric-amazing player too

Eric, what a man.

to these ears, his sax playing suited Prince's music more than any other sax player he ever employed.

Eric ... one of my heroes and such a person of integrity.

And by the way ...

if you don't know his work with fdeluxe, go and grab their music.

boschino said:

Eric, what a man.

to these ears, his sax playing suited Prince's music more than any other sax player he ever employed.

I concur.

What a great interview. I love how it closes:

It's that way for many of us, too, Eric. In the last few days, I've thought so much about all the people I never would have known, but for Prince.

Beautiful souls die young. I always loved Eric Leeds playing the saxophone. Much respect to him.

Great memories and insight from Eric. Hope 2 read a lot of about beautiful one, from his bandmates.

very insightful interview

Eric seems like a really nice level-headed guy