Having performed professionally for more than two decades with Ken Peplowski, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, the Stylistics and a number of Broadway shows, Boulder-based reedsman Eric Erhardt is finally releasing his debut as a bandleader with A Better Fate. On the eight original cuts here, Erhardt, who started composing for big band and chamber orchestra in high school, displays a wide and forward-thinking writing scope, drawing from more than just modern jazz and incorporating Brazilian (“Liddle Rittle”), Afro-Cuban (“A Better Fate” and “Tyler Park”) and rock (“Ten Years”) rhythms. And while he is clearly a skilled composer, Erhardt is also quite adept at any woodwinds he plays, whether it be tenor saxophone, clarinet or flute. It’s no exaggeration to say that he’s outdone himself on A Better Fate.
