Biography
Coleman was born in Cheltenham to an English father and an Anglo-Indian mother of half-Bengali descent who are both school teachers. He studied piano and violin under Eric Coleridge, head of music for Cheltenham College, until the age of 17 and was a member of several cathedral choirs in England. In 1973, Jaz was awarded the Rex Watson Cup at the Cheltenham International Festival of Music. Jaz Coleman studied in Leipzig DDR in 1987 and Cairo Conservatoire in 1979 where he made an extensive study of Arabic quartertones. According to his own account, Coleman also studied international banking for three years in Switzerland and is an ordained priest, with a church in New Zealand.
He is a supporter of the concept of environmental sustainability and has invested in the creation of two eco-villages in the South Pacific and in Chile. Coleman has joint British and New Zealand citizenship and has residences in Prague, Switzerland, and New Zealand. He has been married twice and has three children.
Together with Malcolm Welsford, he founded the York Street Recording Studio in New Zealand.
Coleman was made Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture for his contribution to contemporary music. He was decorated by the French government on 27 September 2010, while Killing Joke were in concert at the Bataclan in Paris.
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