Amandla

Amandla is the music and group of Claude Coleman Jr., familiarly known as the perversely versatile drummer for the group Ween. His 20-year discography as a drummer stretches across an eclectic array of artists and players throughout the NY/NJ area and beyond, including artists ranging from Elysian Fields and Eagles of Death Metal to Marco Benevento and Chocolate Genius.
On record, Amandla is Coleman as its singer-songwriter, performing on all instruments, engineering and producing. Live, he is Amandla's frontman and guitarist.
In 1989, his first band Skunk was signed to TwinTone Records, after which he began recording and performing with Ween in 1992. Skunk's second release Laid (1991) featured three Coleman-penned tracks including the slow falsetto burner I Think I Don't Mind, later re-recorded and re-released on the debut Amandla release, Falling Alone (2001).
Falling Alone was a contextual portrait of Coleman's influences, defying all categories with its alt-rock-soul-folk-psychedelic exploration A songwriter's record, it proudly defined Amandla with its own traditions and sounds; boasting the lush haunting of On A Ferry, then jumping over to the prog-heavy Daniella. Gene Ween sings on the Marc Bolan cover, Summer Deep.
The Full Catastrophe (2006), also independently released, took the span of four years in which Coleman became a near-fatal accident survivor. His music as well as his miraculous recovery story has been featured by The New York Times and NPR. On Catastrophe, Coleman continued Amandla's across style boundaries, bringing Costello-esque pop; flirting with jungle music moods. It has been reviewed as "a minor masterpiece".
Currently, the drummer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, engineer / producer, music teacher, writer, web designer and carpenter is currently in sessions for his third Amandla release, Laughing Hearts to be released summer of 2010, as well as touring the new material through the summer. Recording is taking place between his home studio and CoMA Recording Studio in Trenton, NJ, a 1940's era radio station / studio restoration project.