Eric Tapper

Independent / U.S. Army Blues

Eric Tapper was born in western Massachusetts in 1995 and began studying drum set and percussion at age 13. Inspired by the great jazz records of the mid century, his teenage years were filled with musical curiosity, admiration, and an insatiable appetite to play the drums. During his adolescence, he was a member of District, All-State and All-Eastern honors ensembles, as well as the New England Conservatory’s Youth Jazz Orchestra and Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble.

In 2013, Eric received a music scholarship to attend the University of North Texas. During his time at UNT he was a member of the 7x Grammy-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band and received the Outstanding Undergraduate in Percussion award through a recommendation by his teacher, Ed Soph.

Upon graduating with honors, Eric won a position in the 2017 Disneyland All American College Band (AACB) where he performed for tens of thousands of people daily and worked with world class clinicians and entrepreneurs.

Immediately after his summer in the AACB, he won the drum set position in the Army Blues, the premier big band of the United States Army. His duties with the band include performing classic and original big band repertoire in the DC area and around the country.

Throughout these endeavors, Eric has had the incredible privilege of making music with the AMP trio, Allyn Johnson, Cynthia Scott, Ben Allison, Brad Leali, Etienne Charles, Fran Vielma’s Pan-American Jazz Orchestra, George Colligan, Gordon Goodwin, John Clayton, Marshal Gilkes, Pedro Giraudo, Sean Jones, Sharón Clark, Stefan Harris, Terrell Stafford, Tim Green, Vincent Gardner, Wayne Bergeron, and Wycliffe Gordon. Eric has performed at the Next Generation Jazz Festival, Buddy Defranco Jazz Festival, Denton Arts and Jazz Festival, DC Jazz Festival, DC Folk Festival, Rochester Jazz Festival, Duck Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, National Christmas Tree Lighting, and PASIC.

Tapper proudly endorses Zildjian Cymbals and Vic Firth Drumsticks.

Eric
Tapper's
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Eric Tapper's
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WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

Performing at PASIC with the Army Blues in 2024 was absolutely one of my career highlights. It was an opportunity to play with a word-class big band for thousands of eager and attentive drummers/percussionists/educators was an honor and a true joy. Additionally, several of my favorite drummers like Peter Erskine, Mike Clark and Greg Hutchinson as well as up and coming drummers Maria Marmarou and Colleen Clark were featured with the band as well. That gave me the truly invaluable experience of hearing all of the phenomenal musicians play with the same band in the same evening! I, of course, rehearsed all of the concert's repertoire with the Army Blues leading up to the performance so getting to hear how all of the guest drummers played the charts differently was genuinely so fun and informative.
WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF DRUMMERS

The joy I get from listening to great music has always inspired me to practice, experiment, learn, and get out there playing! While on a bandstand I always try to have the music inform my decisions, so drawing inspiration from my bandmates and helping them be comfortable and play to the best of their abilities is my priority.
FAVORITE ZILDJIAN CYMBAL/COMBO

I choose Vic Firth because they're the best! I've found that Vic Firth implements are the highest quality, have the best variety, the most consistency, and are the most durable.