Tony Underwood

Antonio D. Underwood is a classically trained jazz performer/composer. From the age of four, his parents knew of his musical ability, so they had him in the men's chorus and various other singing groups in the church, at a very early age. He has been performing professionally since his sophomore year at the college of New Jersey. At the age of nineteen, he began playing tuba in such noted New York City Jazz venues as Sweet Basil's, Lush Life, The Village Gate, the Vanguard, The Greenwich House, The South Street Seaport and JVC jazz festivals, etc.

He has been performing professionally since his sophomore year at the college of New Jersey. At the age of nineteen, he began playing tuba in such noted New York City Jazz venues as Sweet Basil's, Lush Life, The Village Gate, the Vanguard, The Greenwich House, The South Street Seaport and JVC jazz festivals, etc. with noted jazz performers. These Manhattan venues are where he learned and developed a real appreciation and true understanding of the jazz culture before graduating the Yale School of Music in 1987, with a Master degree in classical performance, with specialized study in composition.

Since then, Mr. Underwood has performed and/or composed and arranged for such artist as McCoy Tyner, Max Roach, Charlie Haden, The World Saxophone Quartet, Terry Dexter, BeBe Winans, Henry Threadgill, 2006 Grammy Song of the Year writer Emmanuel Seal, Academy Award Winning Composer, Film Composer Elliot Goldenthal, and others. He can be heard on such labels as: Just In Time (Canada), Pony Canyon (Japan), Verve, Atlantic, Warner Brothers, A&M, etc., amongst theatre and film sound tracks recordings.

After an eight year hiatus, Tony has returned to jazz with a new CD. It is entitled Tuba Mirum.