Eric Comstock

Comstock entered the world in New Jersey, USA. An early fascination with music and vocal performance took root as he absorbed the styles of artists featured on recordings by Bobby Short, Noël Coward, and Fats Waller. Piano instruction began at the age of ten, and throughout high school he supplied accompaniment for student productions. College studies commenced at George Washington University, where he regularly arranged material for musical revues. A subsequent transfer to New York University broadened his scope to musical theatre. Part-time employment at a record store led to an encounter with fellow staff member Will Friedwald, an emerging author whose deep engagement with jazz singing further enlarged Comstock’s musical outlook. From that juncture onward, vocal performance formed the central element of his work. Early appearances occurred in a sibling duo billed as Kate And Eric Comstock, after which he performed solo engagements on cruise ships. Following two years in that setting he sought greater stability, yet an offer arrived in 1994 to lead a Peter Duchin orchestra on a world cruise. Once back in New York he accepted bookings in numerous environments, among them intimate rooms, and took part in the well-received off-Broadway production Our Sinatra, which premiered in 1999. In 2001 he joined Bill Henderson and Dena DeRose for Made For the Movies: A Hollywood Songbook. Although Short exerted the strongest influence, Comstock has likewise cited Steve Ross and the music of Duke Ellington among the forces that shaped his style.