Primary Instrument: Arranger
Anthony Coleman II keeps his feet on the ground and his horn in the sky.
Paramount for Anthony is the idea of respect; respect for the roots and traditions of Jazz, which earned him a spot in the inaugural class of Dave Brubeck, Don Byas, and Christian McBride's Brubeck Institute of Jazz; and respect for the vitality of the present, which has made him an in-demand live performer and studio musician for artists like Ludacris, Joss Stone, and Raphael Saadiq.
Coleman honed his arranging chops further, earning his degree from the New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music, and now leads Enoeca, a small combo, and Simplistic, a big band which plays his own arrangements of virtuosic jazz and genre-bending hip hop -- yes, for fourteen horns.
Anthony thus brings both academic rigor and real-world experience to the table as a working player and educator in New York City and the Bay Area, CA; from teaching private trumpet, theory, harmony, and ear training, to section and combo coaching at places like the Lafayette Music Workshop and the Police Athletic League.
Coleman's native California informs every soulful groove he lays down, and in a post-Young Lion world, Jazz needs all the personality it can get. Anthony's a distinguished representative of the new vanguard of young musicians, and his relentless fight for virtuosity and integrity in modern music makes him an ideal candidate for bringing Jazz into the 21st century.
