Hi, I'm Eric.
Born and raised in Buffalo, New York. San Diego for the last twenty-five-plus years. By day I run a software company. And for a few hours every weekday, I'm your favorite smooth jazz host and curator. Am I right?
Blame Mrs. Witkopf.
Fourth grade, Buffalo. My teacher played Kenny G every single day, I think to calm down a room full of rambunctious little troublemakers. I might be the only kid who came out of that class loving it. Same years, my next-door neighbor Mr. Jim washed his car every summer weekend with a boombox on an extension cord in the middle of the driveway: Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder. That's the vibe. It got into my soul early and never left.
I was in the drumline in middle and high school and played in a few bands. These days I dabble with piano and guitar at home; the real experts are the artists you hear on this station. My first smooth jazz concert was Boney James, in my twenties. If you've listened for more than a day, you've noticed I still close every show with him.
Why I built the station.
For nearly twenty years I wrote software in noisy offices, on the road, and at home. Smooth jazz was my work companion the whole time. I tried symphonic music, lo-fi beats, every trick. Nothing kept me focused like a groovy, positive smooth jazz set. I always wished a station like this existed, so this year I launched exactly what I needed. Turns out a lot of you needed the same thing.
I'm not a music industry insider. No connections, no secret handshake. Just a real fan who loves this music enough to run a radio station next to a day job, and who wants to give something back to the artists and the genre. That's why every song we play is logged, every artist has a page with what we've played and where they're touring, and a live host says their names out loud every day.
Smooth jazz that hits different.
I like songs with a little extra in them: extra groove, extra rhythm, a little swagger. Music that moves your soul into motion without getting in the way of what you're doing. Working, studying, driving, cooking, or doing absolutely nothing at all. I support you either way.
Where to find me.
The radio runs 24/7 on this site, on Live365 and TuneIn, and on Alexa. Twice every weekday I go live: video of the DJ chair and me working through my own to-do list, on Mixcloud, Twitch and Kick. Think of me as your coworking companion, one with good taste who knows when to be quiet. Mixcloud keeps every show afterwards. On socials I'm at Flow Smooth Jazz everywhere.
Smoothies.
That's what I call you all, at least until a better name wins. Every show I look at the listener map and see Lancashire, Quebec, Mexico City, Lima, Maui, St. Croix, all tuned to the same soundtrack at the same time. We're in different places, but we're connected. I love that thought. Jazz fans are my people.
Thanks for making Flow Smooth Jazz part of your day. Catch ya'll later, and keep it smooth out there.