Colin Stetson was born and raised in Ann Arbor, MI,
where he began to carve out his singular musical
voice that channels John Coltrane’s sheets of sounds,
as well as the post-modern beauty and angst of Sonic
Youth and The Pixies. Using assorted saxophones,
clarinet, flute and French horn, Stetson has played
and recorded with some of today’s hottest and most
revered musicians and bands, like Arcade Fire, Tom
Waits, TV On The Radio, Antibalas, Anthony Braxton,
Medeski, Martin and Wood and Burning Spear.
Studying with the likes of Roscoe Mitchell, Donald
Sinta, Steve Adams and Henry Threadgill, Stetson
earned a music degree from the University of Michigan
in 1997. More importantly, extensive gigging
with his band Transmission around Ann Arbor and
Detroit earned him a reputation for being an exemplary
improviser, composer and circular breather.
Never one to cage himself into categories, Stetson
joined forces with progressive jazz-rockers Larval,
as well as DJ Recloose, which eventually led to
Stetson’s appearance on the acclaimed Cardiology
recording.
Along with the rest of Transmission, Stetson moved
to San Francisco in 1998, befriending, playing and
recording with the likes of Fred Frith, Kenny Wollesen,
Beulah and the late Matthew Sperry. Stetson and
his Transmission brothers anchored a musical community
that garnered high praise in the Bay Area
press, and eventually led to national and international
attention when in 2002, Tom Waits recruited
Stetson to record on the landmark albums Alice and
Blood Money (which led to Stetson making an appearance
on David Letterman with Waits).
