Verified Global Musician

Anthony Wonsey

Anthony Wonsey is a pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader whose leader albums extend a career with Elvin Jones, Wallace Roney, and other groups.

PianoComposerArrangerBandleader4 current shows
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Photo source · Official artist media

Career Overview

About Anthony Wonsey

Wonsey’s management biography traces his development from Chicago through Berklee and early work with Roy Hargrove, Antonio Hart, Kenny Garrett, and Nnenna Freelon. It records a five-year place in Elvin Jones’s Jazz Machine after Wonsey moved to New York.[1][2]

The same source identifies a leader sequence beginning with Anthonyology and continuing through Blues for Hiroshi, The Thang, and Lorraine’s Lullaby. That catalog sits beside long recording and touring relationships with Wallace Roney, Nicholas Payton, Chico Freeman, and other leaders.[1][3]

Ensembles and Career Threads

Bands & Projects

Leader, pianist, composer, and arranger

Anthony Wonsey leader groups

Wonsey’s four named leader albums use trio and small-group settings for his original music and arrangements.[1][3]

Pianist

Elvin Jones Jazz Machine

Five-year tenure

Wonsey joined Jones after Berklee, relocating to New York for an extended period in the drummer’s working band.[1]

Pianist and arranger

Wallace Roney, Nicholas Payton, and Chico Freeman groups

The management biography documents a multi-decade run of touring and recording in these bandleaders’ ensembles.[1][2]

Selected, Not Exhaustive

Recordings to Know

Anthonyology

Leader and pianist

The management biography identifies Anthonyology as Wonsey’s first album under his own name.[1][3]

Release details

2005

The Thang

Leader and pianist

The small-group leader album pairs Wonsey’s piano with Eric Alexander, Joe Farnsworth, and Nat Reeves.[1][3]

Release details

Lorraine’s Lullaby

Leader, pianist, composer, and arranger

Produced by Jeremy Pelt, the album combines Wonsey originals with arranged standards in a post-pandemic leader session.[1][3]

Release details

Live Calendar

Upcoming Jazz DateBook Shows

Sat, Oct 3, 8:00 PM

BERNARD LINNETTE INTERACTIVE

Five Spot Jazz · New York

Show details

Mon, Oct 5, 11:45 PM

Jam Session Hosted By Adam Ray

Smalls Jazz Club · New York

Show details

Sat, Oct 10, 11:55 PM

Anthony Wonsey Quintet

Smalls Jazz Club · New York

Show details

Mon, Oct 19, 11:45 PM

Jam Session Hosted By Adam Ray

Smalls Jazz Club · New York

Show details

Sources

Career copy is original synthesis from the artist, label, and project sources below. Current dates come from Jazz DateBook event inventory.

  1. [1] Management biography and leader recording history

    J Jams Entertainment

  2. [2] Official ensemble biography

    Wynton Marsalis

  3. [3] Canonical artist and recording catalog

    Apple Music