Jaz Coleman celebrated musician, composer, producer, author, lecturer, traveller, philosopher, actor & Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres’ was born (26 February 1960) in Cheltenham to an English father and an Anglo-Indian mother of half-Bengali descent. Coleman 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 before forming Killing Joke. As an artist of fierce intellect and purpose, Jaz Coleman – Killing Joke’s iconic front-man – has been driven by twin musical loves: unorthodox rock and classical music. Killing Joke has played a pivotal role in both alternative music and culture; their influence has been enormous, with an unlikely roll-call of musicians taking their cues from the Killing Joke catalogue – from Nirvana to most modern American metal to many DJs and dance music mavericks… few, however, coming close to the band’s innate power. Killing Joke, for Coleman, is not his only outside activity: while fronting Killing Joke the mercurial Coleman has created a parallel classical career - conducting and working with some of the world's leading orchestras. Conductor Klaus Tennstedt described him as a "new Mahler”.