Trio Actuel (Jeremiah McLane, James Falzone, Eric Platz)

• Jeremiah solo
• Nightingale
• Le Bon Vent
• Trio Actuel
• Hummingbird
• The Clayfoot Strutters
• David Surette & Jeremiah McLane
• The Goat Broke Loose
• Trio Maritsa

Trio Actuel

A project formed in 2004 with Boston percussionist Eric Platz and Chicago clarinetist James Falzone, Trio Actuel approaches various traditional musics and original compositions with a high regard for improvisation and interactive ensemble playing. The ensemble was awarded a grant from the Hilary Swing Fund for Creativity for a Midwest tour in spring of 2004.

James Falzone

Composer and clarinetist James Falzone is working at the intersection of many styles of music including jazz, improvised, classical, and folk traditions. He has been featured on numerous public radio and television shows and has performed in concert halls and jazz clubs throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to the many Allos Musica ensembles James directs, he is a pivotal ensemble member of the acclaimed French folk music group Le Bon Vent and Jorrit Dijkstra’s Flatlands Collective. He has been featured on numerous recordings including his most recent solo project, The Sign and the Thing Signified. James has been awarded grants from the Chicago Cultural Center, the Hillary Swing Fund for Creativity and The Rotary Foundation and is currently on faculty at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois where he teaches courses in theory, composition, and world music. James is also the Resident Composer and Director of Music for Grace Church in Chicago where he resides with his wife and two daughters.

Eric Platz

Eric Platz is a Boston-based percussionist whose performing career encompasses an eclectic array of styles including jazz, rock, Americana, Middle-Eastern, African, and modern improvised music. His two trios, FourMinusOne and Fat Little Bastard, have performed at festivals, music clubs and concert venues across the US, and have each released two CDs. Eric regularly collaborates with musicians based in Boston, Chicago and New York City, and he currently tours the country with Nashville-based singer-songwriter Adrienne Young. In addition to his performing career, Eric is a faculty member at the University of Rhode Island, Providence College, and the University of Massachusetts Boston where he teaches drumset and hand percussion, coaches jazz ensembles, and lectures on the history of jazz and American popular music. Eric earned a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory and a Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science from Brown University. He is currently sponsored by Vic Firth drumsticks.

Jeremiah McLane

Accordionist, pianist, and composer Jeremiah McLane is the director of the Floating Bridge Music, based in Sharon, VT, which serves music students in the Upper Connecticutt River Valley. He is musical director and performs with Le Bon Vent, as well as Nightingale and the Clayfoot Strutters. He has appeared at the Carrefour Mondiale de l’Accordeon in Montmagny, Quebec, the Royal Festival Hall in London, England, the Picolo Spoleto Festival, the Moab Music Festival, the St. Chartiers Festival (France), the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and the Sidmouth Festival (England). He has composed music for theatre and film, including Sam Shepard’s “A Lie of the Mind”, and received numerous grants and awards including the Ontario Center for the Performing Arts Meet the Composer Award, and the Vermont Council on the Arts Creation of New Work Grant. His second solo recording, Smile When You’re Ready, was nominated by National Public Radio in their “favorite picks” of 1996. His fifth release, Hummingbird, received the French music magazine “Trad Mag” BRAVO award for 2003. Jeremiah teaches world music, accordion and piano at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh.