Faculty

(Reginald) “Reggie” Workman (born June 26, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is recognized as one of the most technically gifted American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassists in history. He is an educator extraordinaire, composer, and jazz advocate whose style ranges from Bop, Post Bop and beyond.

Workman, a “Sound Scientist” is a 2020 recipient for the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship Award, the nation’s highest honor in jazz. Although best known for his work with John Coltrane, his collaborative projects with other artists are monumental: Art Blakey's Jazz Messngers, Yusef Lateef, Eric Dolphy, Lee Morgan, Booker Little, Elvin Jones Alice Coltrane, Freddy Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Terumasa Hino, Mal Waldron, Abby Lincoln, Max Roach, David Murray, Oliver Lake, Cecil Taylor, Black Swan String Quartet, Ernie Watts, Sonny Simmons, and many other. Currently he started collaboration with BROOKLYN RAGA MASTERS. The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and the African-American Historical and Cultural Museum of Philadelphia name him a Living Legend; he was a recipient of the Mary Flagler Trust award, The I.A.J.E award, Meet The Composer Grants, and NYFA. Orchard Hill College, Harvest Enterprise, Trane Stop Resource Institute, etc cite him.

Workman’s own projects and collaborations are with: Trio Three, BREW, Ashanti’s Message, Trio Rivers - Moran -Workman, WARM, Tribute to an African-American Legacy, MADLOM.ORG, and the New School University. His collaborations with Physical Theater are numerous. As of recent he created Dos Worlds, and Ophelia. His recordings “Summit Conference” & “Cerebral Caverns” on Arkadia Records and “Great Friends Project” on Evidence Records are sure to become classic. He recently recorded with BREW. He is in a process of creating the music OUTCRY (a double jazz quartet, RAGA Masters and Physical Theater Ophelia). 

Learn more about how Reggie Workman helps students discover their radical artistry.