Gregory James Coleman (29 June 1949 – 16 September 2005) was a classical guitarist, educator, composer, and arranger. Coleman taught classical guitar for over 42 years at

Saddleback College Saddleback College (Saddleback) is a public community college in Mission Viejo, California. It is part of the California Community College system and awards over 300 associate degrees, academic certificates, and occupational skills awards in ...

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a public community college in Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees, cer ...

Irvine Valley College Irvine Valley College (also known as IVC or Irvine Valley) is a public community college in Irvine, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System. The college inherited its name from the Irvine family and the Irvine Compan ...

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university headquartered in Redlands, California. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Califo ...

Cal State San Bernardino California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino or CSUSB) is a public research university in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1965, it is one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. The m ...

, and privately. He studied with renowned guitarists, including

Laurindo Almeida Laurindo Almeida (September 2, 1917 – July 26, 1995) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He and Bud Shank were pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the first guitarist to receive Gra ...

Christopher Parkening Christopher William Parkening (born December 14, 1947) is an American classical guitarist. He holds the Chair of Classical Guitar at Pepperdine University under the title Distinguished Professor of Music. Biography Parkening was born in Los Angel ...

Joe Pass Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Pass is well known for his work stemming from numerous collaborations with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, an ...

Howard Roberts Howard Mancel Roberts (October 2, 1929 – June 28, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist, educator, and session musician. Early years Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Damon and Vesta Roberts, and began playing guitar at the age of 8 - a ...

, and

Pepe Romero Pepe Romero (born March 8, 1944, in Málaga, Spain) is a classical and flamenco guitarist. Biography Early life Pepe Romero was born in Spain, the second son of celebrated guitarist and composer Celedonio Romero, who was his only guitar ...

. Coleman's father

Ervan Coleman Ervan F. "Bud" Coleman (July 7, 1921 – May 26, 1967) was an American guitar and mandolin player, member of Baja Marimba Band, worked with Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, and who wrote the hit track, "Tijuana Taxi". On the liner notes of Herb A ...

was a studio guitarist, a founding member of the

Baja Marimba Band The Baja Marimba Band was a musical group led by marimba player Julius Wechter. Formed by producer Herb Alpert after his own Tijuana Brass, the Baja Marimba Band outlasted the Tijuana Brass by several years in part due to TV producer Chuck Barri ...

, and a

session player Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

with

The Tijuana Brass Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

. Coleman attended Saddleback College and the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

."A father's last wish fulfilled"
''The Orange County Register'', 12 April 2006. He died from melanoma on 16 September 2005 in

Trabuco Canyon Trabuco Canyon (''Trabuco'', Spanish for "Blunderbuss") is a small unincorporated community located in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County, California, and lies partly within the Cleveland National Forest. Trabuco ...

."Guitarist's dying wish is UCI degree"
''The Orange County Register'', 20 September 2005.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Gregory 1949 births American classical guitarists American male guitarists 2005 deaths Musicians from Orange County, California Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists Classical musicians from California 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical musicians