Eric Platz, drumset

Eric Platz is a drummer, percussionist, improviser and music educator from Boston, Massachusetts. An active part of the musical communities in Boston and New York City for the past ten years, Eric performs an eclectic array of musical styles including jazz, Americana, world music, rock, and classical. Currently a member of Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Carrie Rodriguez’s band, he has toured extensively throughout North America and has made radio and TV appearances throughout the US, including PBS’s internationally broadcast Austin City Limits. Eric is also featured on Ms. Rodriguez’s critically acclaimed 2009 recording She Ain’t Me (EMI/Blue Note). As part of the world music ensemble Asefa, Eric has performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Blue Note, and performs annually at the Sephardic Music Festival in New York City. FourMinusOne and Fat Little Bastard, two improvised music trios that Eric has co-led, have performed at festivals, universities and concert venues across the US, and have each released two CDs. Both ensembles have received critical praise in the Boston Globe and Time Out-New York. In addition to his current projects, Eric is an active freelancer and has performed with Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano and Lucinda Williams among many others. He has appeared on over 20 recordings and is scheduled to collaborate with producer Lee Townsend on an upcoming project in Fall 2009.

As an educator, Eric has been on the faculty at the University of Rhode Island, Providence College and the University of Massachusetts Boston where he taught applied drumset and percussion, ensemble performance, jazz history. He has also given lectures and conducted clinics and performance workshops at institutions across the US. Eric joined the faculty at the Brandon University School of Music in Fall 2009 as Assistant Professor. He currently teaches applied drumset, jazz ensembles, and jazz pedagogy.

Eric holds an MMus in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory where he studied with Bob Moses, Michael Cain, Danilo Perez and Paul Bley. He also earned an ScB degree in Materials Science from Brown University. Eric is an endorsing artist for Vic Firth Drumsticks.