Kwami Coleman

Kwami Coleman is an Associate Professor at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University. He holds a B.A. & M.A. in Music and Musicology from Hunter College, CUNY (2007), and a Ph.D. in Musicology from Stanford University (2014). His research focuses on improvised and experimental music, American music history, jazz history, music and the African Diaspora, music's political economy, aesthetics, technology, and culture. He is also a pianist and producer, having premiered works at venues like the Studio Museum of Harlem and the March on Washington Film Festival.

His book Change: The New Thing and Modern Jazz (Oxford UP, 2025) explores the stylistic origins of free jazz and its cultural significance. Coleman teaches courses on American music history, music aesthetics, improvisation, and Black Music at Gallatin. He is a founding member of the Afro-Latin@ Forum, an organization dedicated to studying Afro-Latinx identities and visibility.