# New CD – 2024: Eric Heilner – Blues Phantasia – Review, Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2025/01/12/new-cd-2024-eric-heilner-blues-phantasia-review-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2025-01-12T00:05:00+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**“Eric is a musical chameleon, able to take his classical musical background and
infuse his music with a wonderful kaleidoscope of fascinating tints and shades, 
moods and melodies, his fingers running up and down the keyboard with rollicking
enthusiasm.” – [Blue Notes and Conversations](https://raymondmuller567.wixsite.com/blue-notes-and-con-1/general-5-29)**

Multifaceted musician/composer **Eric** **Heilner** presents a new album of blues&
boogie-woogie piano music. While Heilner is primarily a composer of contemporary
classical music, **Blues** **Phantasia** highlights Heilner’s unique interpretations
of the boogie woogie piano tradition with four original tunes along with two tracks
that honor Heilner’s deep affection for the blues.

Blues Phantasia is available on all standard streaming platforms including [Spotify,](https://open.spotify.com/album/3akN788FvJZsS5AlL26nsE)
[Apple Music, ](https://music.apple.com/us/album/blues-phantasia-ep/1747200746)[YouTube ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqTlxGH3R0&list=OLAK5uy_mrlSp9_bJsZNTnL5SsyRoqMkp_g1KGy3Y)
and is available for download on [Bandcamp.](https://ericheilner.bandcamp.com/album/blues-phantasia)
[www.ericheilner.com](http://www.ericheilner.com/) [www.facebook.com/EricHeilnerMusic/](https://www.facebook.com/EricHeilnerMusic/)
[www.instagram.com/eric_heilner/](http://www.instagram.com/eric_heilner/)

Award winning composer Eric Heilner grew up in a household imbued with classical
music, but a teenage encounter with the boogie-woogie music of Meade Lux Lewis and
others led to a lifelong affection for blues and boogie-woogie piano.

In the 1970s, Heilner toured the East Coast with a variety of bands, played in an
opening act for the then rising Bruce Springsteen, wrote songs, and recorded on 
an album produced by Jack Douglas (John Lennon, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Patti Smith,
etc). However, after turning 30, he retired from the music business, put his electric
piano in the attic, and became a “respectable” member of society.

In the early 2000s, with the encouragement of his wife and family, Heilner came 
out of musical retirement and started playing rock and roll. However he was also
drawn back to his classical roots. Musical themes – entire pieces – would play through
his mind as he walked down the street. Finally, Heilner gave into the urge and started
studying composition at the Juilliard Evening School. Within a few years, Heilner
was composing fully developed pieces for chamber ensembles and orchestras. His pieces
have been performed at various venues in New York City, Moscow, Los Angeles, Milan,
Vienna, and Lviv, Ukraine.

In October 2020 ,he reconnected with producer Jack Douglas and released his first
album – _Modern_ _Sounds_ _in_ _Classical_ _Music_. The album features Heilner’s
chamber music for strings, woodwinds, and pianos. The album has received excellent
reviews and some airplay on college radio stations.

In May 2024 Heilner released his second album, titled _Blues_ _Phantasia_ _–_ which
features his unique interpretations of the blues and boogie-woogie piano legacy.
Both albums are available for streaming on most digital platforms including [Spotify, ](https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Ujukt3mlvqpIRB7t3LvGo)
[Apple M](https://music.apple.com/us/search?term=eric%20heilner)[usic, ](https://music.apple.com/us/album/modern-sounds-in-classical-music/1534472652)
[YouTube, ](https://www.youtube.com/@ericheilner)etc, etc, or you can purchase a
digital download on [Bandcamp. ](https://ericheilner.bandcamp.com/album/modern-sounds-in-classical-music)
You can also listen to some of his more recent compositions [here.](https://soundcloud.com/user-103019890-849981543/sets/classical-chamber-music-1?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing)

Heilner has had significant successes in the international competition arena. His
composition _Excursion_ _for_ _Piano_ _Trio_ _#4_ recently won first place in the
prestigious [Vienna Classical Music](https://www.viennaclassicalmusic.org/2024-composition)
[Academy Competition. ](https://www.viennaclassicalmusic.org/2024-composition)Other
compositions have also garnered [3rd place a](https://ericheilner.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eedf304d6e35567a5e52c5be0&id=0626440828&e=d46d5152f0)
nd [honorable](https://www.viennaclassicalmusic.org/composition-2022) [mentions.](https://www.viennaclassicalmusic.org/composition-2022)

While Heilner continues to devote most of his time composing, he can still be found
playing rock & roll keyboards in his favorite haunts in the wilds of New Jersey.
He recently represented the North Jersey Blues Society in the [International Blues Challenge ](https://blues.org/international-blues-challenge/)
in Memphis, Tennessee.

**A****bout** **the** **Music** **(some** **personal** **reflections)** **H****onky****
Tonk** **Train** **Blues: **It was the late summer of 1965 and I was about to enter
my senior year of high school. Earlier that summer I had taken a course in computer
programming at Stevens Institute of Technology (sponsored by the National Science
Foundation) – setting the course for my later career as a computer programmer and
branding me for life as a computer nerd. However, on this particular day I found
myself at home alone and, having nothing better to do, I started rummaging in my
father’s record collection – my dad had very eclectic tastes in music ranging from
Bach to folk music.

My eye was caught by an album “_Boogie_ _Woogie,_ _Jump_ _and_ _Kansas_ _City_” 
distributed by the Library of Congress. I put it on the turntable and this strange
haunting music came on. It sounded sort of like rock & roll, but my teenage mind
detected something deeper (earthier?) happening. There was Tampa red and Speckled
Red and some guy was singing about a Monday gal and a Tuesday gal, etc – my naïve
16 year old mind couldn’t quite wrap my head around this – “How does this guy do
it?”

And then a piano instrumental started – _Honky_ _Tonk_ _Train_ _Blues_ – recorded
by Meade “Lux” Lewis in 1927 – and I fell into a trance. Each time the music finished
the 12 bar cycle and started the next verse, it felt like Lewis was talking directly
to me – “_Hey_ _Eric,_ _you_ _think_ _that_ _was_ _cool,_ _now_ _check_ _out_ _what_
_I’m_ _gonna_ _do_ _next_“. I listened to it over and over, and then sat down at
the piano and worked out the basics of what Lewis was playing. Late in the afternoon
my father got home from his job at the public library in Passaic, NJ – and was startled
to see/hear his gawky, nerdy, pimply-faced teenage son playing the piano and somehow
channeling a long dead black blues player.

I am now much more acquainted with all the blues & boogie greats, but Honky Tonk
Train Blues is still my “heart beat”. While I pride myself on having my own style
of playing and avoid doing note for note copies of the originals, this is the one
exception – The album finishes with a fairly accurate replica of the original 1927
Meade “Lux” Lewis version.

![](https://i0.wp.com/blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7q9EWv1EzqEzrAQIr6KVicDTW5-
riwl7A8Kg9DINvADqzLmeA73vfvWTwEiEAzpv8r4Jv7XhpeXZiB4URrIeds9Uy_grK_UFHdVQvL92rX10GA9b-
KUp6MPU6zWTZ6-cHsN74J_z8kfLvWrHt0pVhQ_GnrKbyuwldLl7tHGgO45rfaKZysHErHFvMcVEc/w1877-
h1249/Torso.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

**C****hains: **_Chains_ is a pop tune written by Carole King & Gerry Goffin; it
was a hit single for an all girl group The Cookies in 1962 and was covered by the
Beatles on their first album (George sang lead!). Now fast forward. In the late 
1970s I played with a central NJ based band Heavy Trucking. Heavy Trucking was very
popular in the area and even opened up for the soon to be world famous Bruce Springsteen(
this was after his first album). Heavy Trucking did a blues/rock version _Chains_
which I really enjoyed. playing. That arrangement has stuck with me through the 
years.

**B****l****ues** **Phantasia,** **Hills** **&** **Valleys,** **In** **A** **Mist**,
and **RumBoogie: **The original tunes are the musical core of the album. I could
give detailed descriptions of the origins and creation of these original tunes but
I’ll let them speak for themselves.

While I love playing the blues, for many years my musical creative energy has focused
on composing contemporary classical music. Nonetheless, the notion of doing an album
of blues piano has always been sort of a fantasy of mine – plus my wife loves listening
to my blues playing. Anyway. . . last year – on a whim – I auditioned for and was
selected to represent the North Jersey Blues Society in the International Blues 
Challenge (IBC) in Memphis Tennessee. This took place in January 2024. While I did
not win any awards, it inspired me. A few weeks later I was selected to be the opening
act for a well-known local blues singer – Deborah Davies. The concert was scheduled
for May 2024. This gave me the incentive to record an album in time for the performance.
The album was completed in a mad rush. This was complicated by the fact that a piece
I composed for piano trio (that’s piano, violin, and cello) won first prize in the
prestigious Vienna Classical Music Academy competition and I went to Vienna to help
with (and hear) the performance. I did get the album out in time, but I had to leave
off a few tunes due to time constraints,- an interview with us said **Eric** **Heilner.**

[**Buy from here – New CD 2024**](https://ericheilner.bandcamp.com/album/blues-phantasia)

![](https://i0.wp.com/f4.bcbits.com/img/a2069048094_16.jpg?resize=640%2C640&ssl=
1)

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