Eric Leeds is an American saxophone player, mostly known for his work with

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. He has recorded mostly music in the pop and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

genres, but is a studied jazz musician.Cole, George.
Eric Leeds: Interviews: The Last Miles: The Music of Miles Davis 1980 – 1991
. Retrieved on November 4, 2008.

Life and career

Leeds was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, Wisconsin, the son of a retailer. He moved to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Virginia, at the age of seven, where he lived from 1959 to 1966, and then moved to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pennsylvania, at the age of fourteen, where he attended junior high school and college. Leeds lived in Pittsburgh for eighteen years and started a music career there. Leeds studied saxophone with mentor

Eric Kloss Eric Kloss (born April 3, 1949) is an American jazz saxophonist. Music career Kloss was born blind in Greenville, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, and attended the Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind, which was run by his father. When he was 1 ...

, who had signed to Prestige Records at the age of sixteen. He attended

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

. He played in a band named "On The Corner" during the 1970s, which consisted of two trumpets, one tenor sax, one baritone sax, and a four-piece rhythm section. Eric played baritone sax in the band. Rich Mansfield, also known as Brother Rick and the musical director from the American Soundtrack series played tenor sax in the band. Leeds' brother,

Alan Leeds Alan Leeds (born January 26, 1947) is an American music executive, tour manager, production manager, writer and archivist best known for his work organizing performances and concert tours for artists such as James Brown, Prince, KISS, Cameo, D'Ange ...

, was the tour manager for Prince in the early 1980s and introduced his brother to Prince not long after the '' Purple Rain'' tour. Prince was impressed by Leeds' talents and featured him in the band The Family in 1985. The band was short-lived, but Prince invited Leeds into The Revolution for his ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' tour. Leeds brought along long-time friend Matt Blistan, who was renamed

Atlanta Bliss Matthew "Atlanta Bliss" Blistan (born c. 1952) is an American jazz trumpeter. He is best known for his work with Prince from 1985–1991. He won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the 1986 single "Kiss" by P ...

by Prince. After the breakup of The Revolution, Prince retained Leeds and Bliss for his succeeding band and used their talents greatly over his next three albums. Bliss left the fold in 1989 but Leeds lent his talents to Madhouse (1987–1993) and various Prince projects throughout the years. In 1991, Leeds released the album ''Times Squared'' on Prince's

Paisley Park Records Paisley Park Records was an American record label founded by musician Prince in 1985, which was distributed by and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album '' Purple Rain''. ...

, which incorporated rock, pop and jazz sounds. The tracks that Leeds chose for the album were recorded by Prince and Leeds between 1985 and 1988. A second album, entitled ''Things Left Unsaid'', was released in 1993 with one Prince contribution. The Family reunited in 2007 under the name

fDeluxe The Family was a band formed by Prince, and one of the first signed to Prince's record label, Paisley Park Records. The band reformed as fDeluxe in 2011. History The band's origins started with the disintegration of the Time in 1984. Lead si ...

with all original members (except Jerome Benton), including Leeds. In 2012, they released their album, ''Gaslight'', independently.

Discography

Solo albums

*''Times Squared'' (

Paisley Park Paisley Park Records was an American record label founded by musician Prince in 1985, which was distributed by and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album '' Purple Rain''. ...

, 1991) *''Things Left Unsaid'' (

, 1993) *''Now & Again'' (Nouveau, 2000)

Prince albums

* ''

'' (1986) * ''

Sign o' the Times ''Sign o' the Times'' (often stylized as ''Sign "☮︎" the Times'') is the ninth studio album by American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was first released on March 30, 1987 as a double album by Paisley Park ...

'' (1987) * '' The Black Album'' (1988) * ''

Lovesexy ''Lovesexy'' is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. The album was released on May 10, 1988 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in just seven weeks, from mid-December 1987 to late Jan ...

'' (1988) * ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' (1989) – original soundtrack * '' Scandalous Sex Suite'' (1989) – single * ''

The Love Symbol Album ''Love Symbol'' is the fourteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the second of two that featured his backing band the New Power Generation. It was released on October 13, 1992, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Rec ...

(1992) * ''

Emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...

(1996) * '' One Nite Alone...'' (2002) – live album * '' N.E.W.S'' (2003) * '' C-note'' (2004) – live album

Prince-related albums

* The Family - '' The Family'' (1985) * Madhouse - ''8'' (1987) * Madhouse - ''16'' (1987)

References

External links

FDeluxe MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeds, Eric American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American rock saxophonists Duquesne University alumni Musicians from Pittsburgh Paisley Park Records artists The Revolution (band) members Living people 1952 births 21st-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians