Anthony Tidd

Anthony Tidd is a British born bass player, composer and music producer, who moved to the United States in 1996. A well-known name on the international jazz scene and veteran touring bass player, he has graced stages alongside many staple names including, Steve Coleman, The Roots, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Wayne Krantz, Meshell Ndegeocello, Common, and Jill Scott, to name a few. Currently, Tidd regularly tours and records with alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, is the Creative Music Program Director at the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia, PA and is the owner of recording/production studio Tidbit Sonos.

Anthony Tidd was born in London, England to Trinidadian immigrants. At the age of 5 he enrolled at London's prestigious Newham Academy of Music and began studying classical violin. Tidd said "There, I got a whole classical background, playing in orchestras and learning how to read music, and they also taught me music theory." Tidd went on to learn how to play the electric bass. He was enrolled at Newham Academy of Music until age 16 and then he moved on to Thurrock College, followed by Goldsmiths University.

Tidd's professional music career began as a teenager with the group Quite Sane in the 90s. The group was formed with guitarist Eric Appapoulay and drummer Richard Cassell. Tidd said of the group, "We started out playing James Brown covers and stuff that was popular at the time, like Michael Jackson, and it wasn't long before we arrived at fusion music like Chick Corea and the Yellowjackets". The group went on to record the critically acclaimed album The Child of Troubled Times.

During that same time period of the late 1990s Tidd was introduced to the music of saxophonist Steve Coleman by another Quite Sane band member. Shortly thereafter the manager of the then unsigned band The Roots, Richard Nichols, and Steve Coleman made a trip to London to hear Tidd play. Coleman's frequent collaborator Greg Osby had recommended the young British bassist so highly that the saxophonist flew across the Atlantic to hear for himself. As Tidd recalls, "He put on a cassette — that's how long ago this was — and I said, 'This is amazing. Who programmed the drums?' He said, 'That's a live drummer, a guy called Ahmir Thompson'".

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