bio

Harley Coleman is a musician of many worlds. Primarily a jazz and improvising guitarist/composer, he also traverses popular and experimental music as a composer and multi-instrumentalist.

Originally from Port Macquarie, he began to forge his urban connections during high school, where he was selected to participate in the Wollongong Conservatorium jazz program tour and the AIM Studio Youth Orchestra in 2018. He moved to Sydney in 2019 to study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, learning from Australian Jazz luminaries Cameron Undy, Carl Dewhurst, Dr Simon Barker, Dr Phil Slater as well as international artists Florian Ross and Will Vinson. During his studies he was selected to participate in the inaugural exchange to the Vietnamese National Academy of Music under the guidance of Dr Steve Barry.

After graduating in 2022 with Honours, he is now quickly solidifying his presence as a dynamic voice within the Sydney creative music scene. A busy sideman, his notable collaborations include free-jazz trio The Vicissitudes, Sabine+Harley, the Tessie Overmyer Quintet, and minimalist trio Sandcastles who recorded and released their 2021 record “Where You Came From” on Sydney based label, “People Sound”.

Coleman is also an avid composer with a variety of eclectic projects. These include his own trio focusing on his compositions, solo improvisatory work, and his “Very Fast Band”.

He has performed across the country including at MONA FOMA festival in Hobart, the JazzLab in Melbourne and SIMA’s Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival, and was selected to participate in the Australian Art Orchestra’s 2021 Creative Music Intensive and the Siena International Jazz Workshop 2024.

As well as co leading a tri-weekly jazz residency at CBD bar The Swinging Cat since 2020, he has also had the privilege of working with and performing alongside legends of Australian jazz and creative music, including Jonathan Zwartz, Cameron Undy, Andrea Keller, Sam Anning and Carl Dewhurst.

He is currently working on recording his solo music and performing with his other projects.