Claude Coleman, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Claude Coleman (also known as "Jimmy Wilson") is the drummer for the alternative rock group Ween. He is also the front man for the band Amandla. He is a graduate of Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ. Amandla is from the language of Zulu, meaning "power."
Claude Coleman Jr. is best known as the perversely versatile live/studio drummer for the cult-rock band Ween. For more than twelve years he has dazzled audiences around the globe with powerfully dynamic performances that have elevated Ween's status as a live band. His acrobatic drumming talents have also been well employed by many other artists including Eagles of Death Metal, Chocolate Genius and Elysian Fields.
A multi-instrumentalist, Coleman is also the singer/songwriter for his own group Amandla. On his independently released debut record Falling Alone, his multi-instrumental talents shined as he wrote and produced all the music, sang and played all the instruments as well as engineered, and mixed all but several tracks in his studio hand-built from the ground up; wiring all the patch bays and doing all the fine carpentry down to the speaker stands.
Falling Alone underscores a breadth of musical experiences that together creates a special blend of music, yet never succumbs to insincerity. From the smooth, buttery fable of Little Jimmy to the prog-blast of Daniella, there are roots-soul-rock sensibilities coupled with infectious pop melodies, teasing psychedelia, and a folk undercurrent by way of acoustic arrangements and thoughtful, lyrical prose.
In Amandla, Coleman reveals strong songwriting talents, and on Falling Alone he displayed both a tasteful and confident virtuosity.
Coleman is also a recent survivor of a near-fatal car accident, in which he suffered multiple pelvic fractures and severe brain injuries. After a 35-day hospitalization stay extensive surgery was performed on his multiple-fractured pelvis confining him to a wheelchair for two entire months while he healed. Coleman was so weak and in such immobilizing and debilitating pain, he couldn't muster the strength to lift his left arm or move any part of that side of his body for four months, let alone hold a stick in his hand.
With months of intensive cognitive and physical therapy ahead of him, Coleman worked ceaselessly to build up the strength on his left hand side. During this time, members of Ween, their families and friends, rallied round Coleman organizing a series of benefit concerts. New York's Bowery Ballroom was booked for the two-month anniversary of the accident and drummer Josh Freese agreed to play, free of charge, in Coleman's place. Given a goal to work towards, Coleman aimed to be strong enough to attend both benefit nights which he did, stunning everyone by standing the first night and walking up the stairs the second.
Coleman's recovery since then has been nothing short of amazing. Told by a neurologist he would have to work twice as hard to gain back the specialized motor skills needed for musicianship, Coleman has done just that. Playing is still part of his therapy and residual problems exist, but those who know him best agree his drumming chops are almost stronger as a result.
Coleman is currently in the studio finishing up a second record, to be titled The Full Catastrophe. The record is slated for a late summer release, and touring will follow in the fall.
Also active in music education, In March 2005 Coleman became involved with the Paul Green School of Rock, New York City where he teaches drums, guitar, bass and vocals as well as directs the school's classic rock themed shows performed in venues around New York City. In addition, he has facilitated music/songwriting workshops for camp children aged nine through 16 through the New York City music program Music Ascension.
No one is quite sure how Coleman found the time or the strength to deal with his ongoing injuries, return to the stage, build another recording studio, record a full-length record performing on all the instruments with his disabilities at hand on top of recording, touring, producing for other artists, as well as teach at a music school in New York, but the fact that he has is a tangible sign of the power of a dream.
