From the moment he peeped into the orchestra pit at the Pacific Northwest Ballet's annual "Nutcracker" performance, Eric Verlinde has been driven with the desire to play music. These days, he's doing just that — and lots of it.
Boasting one of the busiest gigs calendars in town, you'll find Eric working Sunday nights at El Gaucho with singer Josephine Howell, Monday nights on the same stage playing solo, and every Tuesday night he leads one of the city's favorite jam sessions at the Owl & Thistle pub downtown.
With all this, he also finds time to work regularly in the EntreMundos Quarteto and leading a trio of his own, which knocked our socks off in the KNKX studios.
Verlinde is obviously well-liked, and he told us one of his great joys is to play music with as many people and in as many styles as he can.
His mother is from Costa Rica, and he honored her with a burning version of "Bopticos" from his last album Firewalker.
His rhythm section, Dean Schmidt and Jeff Busch on bass and drums, are friends from EntreMundos and added just the right spice to this and the Astor Piazzola tune "Libertango."
