Amandla is from the language of Zulu, meaning - power.
Claude Coleman Jr. is best known as the perversely versatile live/studio drummer for cult-rock gods
Ween. For more than fourteen years his acrobatic drumming talents have dazzled audiences around the
globe, with powerfully dynamic performances that have helped to elevate Ween's status as a live band.
He has also been well employed by many other artists including Eagles of Death Metal,
Chocolate Genius, and Elysian Fields,.
Amandla is the name of his group, of which is entirely all Coleman on record, singing and performing his
songs on every instrument as well as doing the engineering and producing.
On his second independent release The Full Catastrophe, Coleman continues his leaping across
boundaries of style and sound. There is still a steady current of rock, pop, folk and soul, resting a natural
bed of psychedelica, now stretching a bit further into jazz territories, and further into limitless expression
of every influence.
It is the product of a four year journey back from the brink of living, in which he had to reclaim control of
his body and life well enough to finish the work.
During the time of creating what would result to be The Full Catastrophe, Coleman survived a
near-fatal car accident in which he suffered multiple pelvic fractures and severe trauma and brain injuries,
resulting in partial paralysis of the left side of the body. After a 35-day hospitalization stay and extensive
surgery, he was then confined to a wheelchair for two entire months. The traumatic pain was so
immobilizing and debilitating; he couldn't raise his arm for four months, let alone play anything.
The same truck driver responsible for this accident would four years later, go on to cause an accident on the New Jersey Turnpike causing four fatalities. In August, 2006, in an eerily similar rear-end accident, his load of bricks capsized, crushing several cars and causing a multi-car pileup.
With months of intensive cognitive and physical therapy ahead of him, Coleman worked ceaselessly to
rehabilitate himself. He worked outside of the five days a week of cognitive, occupational and physical
therapy he was already receiving at The Kessler Institute and hired occupational therapist Robert
Fieramusco.
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. He performs and records with numbness and residual paralysis, living his life through
chronic pain, and playing has become his therapy to regain the lost, finer dexterity.
A personal triumph of the fullness of the living experience: The Full Catastrophe. Lyrically powerful, it embraces a holistic response to his experiences: not just with one emotion burdened by itself, but with the full spectrum of all emotions and all sensations.
Catch Amandla live throughout 2008 touring nationally.
It was cool to see you guys out at Bull McCabes aftershow. You and the boys rocked the Carolinas, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to spring Amandla dates; hopefully you'll be hitting up the south again soon. Rock on Claude.
