Todd Coolman

Grammy award-winning bassist Todd Coolman is among the most sought-after musicians on the New York music scene today. Since moving to New York in 1978, he has performed and/or recorded with a virtual, “Who’s who” of jazz artists including Horace Silver, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Benny Golson, Ahmad Jamal, Art Farmer, Jay Jay Johnson, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and numerous others. Coolman enjoyed a 25-year stint with the James Moody Quartet and continues to perform with Jon Faddis, Charles McPherson, Renee Rosnes, as well as leading his own small groups. Collectables on Sunnyside Records is Todd’s fourth and most recent CD as a leader. Todd has also authored two books, The Bass Tradition and The Bottom Line. 

Dr. Coolman’s has officially retired from college teaching and is Professor Emeritus, having served for 22 years in the Jazz Studies program at SUNY Purchase, and  also served in the final three years of his collegiate teaching career on the Jazz Studies faculty at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. After joining the faculty of the Skidmore Jazz Institute in 1998, a program he also directed  from 2011-2018 , he remains on the faculty of the Institute and also serves as its Artistic Director. Todd is currently teaching privately, primarily to students ranging in age from 9 to 16 years of age.

In whatever spare time he can carve out of his busy schedule, Todd enjoys fly fishing, bird watching, hiking, and generally communing with the Natural World.