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Anton Fig

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Anton began playing drums at age four. After performing in numerous successful local rock bands he moved to Boston to further pursue his musical interests. His formal education included studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, studying both jazz and classical disciplines graduating with Honors in 1975. In 1976 he moved to New York where he began to establish a career as a freelance musician.

Anton is presently a member of the "CBS Orchestra" appearing nightly on 'Late Show with David Letterman' - a position he has held since 1986. During this tenure he has played with scores of great artists including Miles Davis, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Winwood, Bonnie Raitt and Tony Bennett. The CBS Orchestra has backed up a host of artists in other venues such as Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill, Little Richard and BB King at the closing ceremonies of the summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. They also backed Al Green, Gloria Estefan, In Sync and Eric Clapton for VH1's Save the Music concert at the White House.

The CBS Orchestra is also the house band for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, playing with music's most influential personalities. Most recently they were the backup band for the concert for New York City where they performed with David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy, Macy Gray, and James Taylor.

Some of the many recordings Anton has made include selections with Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Kiss, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Gary Moore, Spider, Ace Frehley, Joan Armatrading, Rosanne Cash, Joe Cocker, John Phillips, Warren Zevon, Sebastian Bach and Paul Butterfield.

As a freelance drummer Anton has also played live with Paul Simon, Booker T and the MG's, The Thompson Twins at Live Aid, and played alongside Jim Keltner for Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary concert celebration.

Anton's videos, "In The Groove" and "Late Night Drumming"

In 1996 Anton released a drum instructional video and book entitled "In the Groove" and "Late Night Drumming".

Anton has just completed his first solo record entitled "Figments". Produced and co-written by Fig, the record represents 3 years of work and includes among others singers and musicians Richie Havens, Brian Wilson, Ivan Neville, Sebastian Bach, Ace Frehley, Al Kooper, Chris Spedding, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, Blondie Chaplin, Paul Shaffer, Chris Botti, Randy Brecker and Richard Bona.

Anton continues to be an in demand studio and live musician and is currently recording and composing for numerous projects.

Anton Fig: Behind The Bandstand, Part 2

by Ben Scholz
May 31, 2015

Part 1 | Part 2 The last chord has been played, the lights have been dimmed, and the iconic NYC skyline (in miniature) behind Dave's desk has been disassembled and stored. The airing of the finale of “The Late Show With David Letterman" on Wednesday May 20th and the accompanying performance by The CBS Orchestra marks the end of a television era. This past year, Anton Fig teamed up with guitar wizards Eric Johnson and Mike ...

Interview

Anton Fig: Behind the Band Stand, Part 1

by Ben Scholz
March 14, 2015

Part 1 | Part 2 It's around 3 o'clock in early January, that melancholy time of year where the day perpetually feels like 7 pm. We're standing on West 53rd Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue around the corner from the entrance to The Ed Sullivan Theater. A light haze of snow is falling around the huddled masses waiting in line. Five or six paparazzo are standing behind a gate, cameras in hand. We knock on the door ...

Performance / Tour

Joe Caro, Adam Holzman, Andy Snitzer, Anton Fig, Conrad Korsch, Lew Soloff And Randy Brecker Live At Drom, NYC June 6th Presented By Innsbruck Records

Source: Roman Klun
May 22, 2012

In the New York City underground scene, Joe Caro led an allstar band which included trumpeter Chris Botti, saxman Lenny Pickett, Late show drummer Anton Fig, bassist Will Lee, trumpeter Randy Brecker and saxman Andy Snitzer among several other notables performing every Tuesday night at the NYC club, The Metropolitan Café. What started out as a two week gig, continued for eight years and became the home base for many New York City session musicians at a time when New ...
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Radio

The Traneumentary: Anton Fig

Source: Jazz Online By Joseph Vella
June 1, 2011

When I first went to see McCoy Tyner at the Blue Note in the summer of 2006, I ran into Paul Schaffer and Anton Fig who were also attending the show. Both Anton and Paul respectfully greeted McCoy backstage and talked with him right before I met and recorded the McCoy “special greeting" Traneumentary episode. A month later I met with Anton to record two Traneumentary pieces. Since Anton is a great drummer, I thought his perspective on Elvin Jones ...
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