Adegoke Steve Colson & Iqua Colson
October 13 @ 8:00 pm – 10:30 pm
Doors at 7:30pm
8:00pm – Adegoke Steve Colson & Iqua Colson
Adegoke Steve Colson – piano
Iqua Colson – vocals
Trevor Ware – bass
Fritz Wise – drums
Maia – flute & harp
The Colsons’ latest album Glow: Music for Trio…Add Voice was just released on August 22nd
https://colsonsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/glow-music-for-trio-add-voice
Referred to as a “musical power couple” (The New York Times) and early members of the famed AACM, pianist/composer Adegoke Steve Colson and vocalist/composer Iqua Colson focus on many facets of the human experience.
Their critically acclaimed performances and recordings illuminate social issues, and have featured such innovators as Reggie Workman, David Murray, Tyshawn Sorey, Joseph Jarman, Oliver Lake, Tomeka Reid, and Henry Threadgill, as well as master artists of other disciplines including dancer/choreographer Savion Glover, writer/activist Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), and dancer/actress Carmen de Lavallade.
“This power couple sends out more love than any billionaire-philanthropist ever managed ….early influential members of the AACM…the Colsons are still here, still vital and still making music for the heart and the head.” – Downbeat August 2025
Adegoke Steve Colson
Adegoke Steve Colson – pianist, composer, saxophonist, historian, educator – performs internationally as a soloist and leader of ensembles ranging from trios to orchestras. His work appears on labels including Columbia/Sony, Evidence, and Black Saint.
Born in Newark and raised in East Orange, NJ, Steve started writing music during his high school years. He earned his degree from Northwestern University School of Music and joined the influential musicians’ collective, the Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in 1972 while living in Chicago. He returned to the East Coast in 1982, moving to Montclair, NJ.
His projects have featured modern innovators – Reggie Workman, David Murray, Henry Threadgill, Malachi Favors, Joseph Jarman, Anthony Davis, Andrew Cyrille, Tyshawn Sorey, Oliver Lake – among many other musicians; and collaborations including master artists of other disciplines such as poet/activist Amiri Baraka, dancer/choreographer Carmen de Lavallade, and artist Willie Cole.
He co-owns recording label Silver Sphinx with wife and musical partner Iqua, and their first release in 1980 later became part of Gilles Peterson’s 2011 compilation Freedom, Rhythm & Sound, which credited them as the early roots of the “indie” movement alongside such independent innovators as Maurice White, John Coltrane, Sun Ra, and Mary Lou Williams.
Ade is featured on 14 recordings, 6 as ensemble leader and one solo piano.
Iqua Colson
Iqua Colson began studying piano, dance, and voice as a child, which led to her entering Northwestern University School of Music as a piano major at 16 years old. She was named a Vocal Talent Deserving Wider Recognition by DownBeat Magazine and has been recognized by Billboard Magazine for distinguished achievement as a lyricist.
The media has placed her in the company of some of our finest known vocal innovators and stylists including Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone, and Abbey Lincoln. Her work has been discussed/reviewed in many languages and can be found in countless periodicals, and in several books including: Black Women & Music: More than the Blues, an anthology of essays/interviews on several women in music including the great Leontyne Price.
Iqua worked with tenor saxophone titan Fred Anderson for several years in her early career. This contributed to her decision to join the AACM in 1974 – that, and the encouragement of friend and master drummer — AACM Founder, Steve McCall.
Though she has performed with other artists including Hamid Drake, Amina Claudine Myers, Joseph Jarman, and Roscoe Mitchell, her most frequent collaborator is her husband, noted pianist and composer Adegoke Steve Colson.
In 2024, The Northwestern University Libraries purchased The Adegoke Steve Colson and Iqua Colson Archives, including scores, compositions and artifacts relative to the first 50 years of their varied and prolific careers — an honor, as they are now documented at Ade’s alma mater among one of the largest and most venerated music collections in the U.S., known for an unmatched strength in contemporary music.