KEYBOARDS & VOCALS

Robert "Frisbee" Coleman began playing piano and taking lessons in the Chicago area at an early age. He studied classical and jazz at the word renowned Arts Magnet High School of Dallas. By age 14, he was playing professionally in the Dallas area with various acting troupes at the musical theatres around the Greenville district.

At 17, he moved to Austin where he earned a BS in Radio, Television and Film from the University of Texas. While there, he took every jazz class available, played in Rhythm and Blues bands, did arrangements and played keyboards for the University of Texas Jazz Orchestra.

At graduation, he joined Bobby Keys (world renowned saxophonist from the Rolling Stones and the Beatles) as a songwriter and keyboardist in an original rock band. During this period, he was also in an all original instrumental band with the legendary blues guitarist, Chris Duarte. This band with Chris quickly gained popularity throughout the Austin music scene, winning the Austin Chronicle Award for Best Jazz Band. His relationship with Bobby Keys grew stronger with time. This connection was the catalyst that relocated Friz to the international hub knows as South Beach in Florida.

His first gig in Florida was reconnecting with Bobby Keys at the exclusive nightclub Woody's on the Beach, owned by Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones. He had the opportunity to jam with many of the music virtuosos that graced the stage during the club's tenure. He also landed a gig as the keyboardist for the newly formed Miami Heat NBA franchise band. Friz flowed naturally into playing with members from Santana, Bon Jovi, The Police, The Chambers Brothers, Curtis Mayfield, Gloria Estefan, The Stray Cats, Dave Edmunds, Joe Walsh and other established recording and performing artists.

Eventually Woody's on the Beach closed, but the band with Bobby Keys did not die. Woody's Orphans was born and played clubs and concert venues from Florida to Tennessee, eventually taking their music to Nashville to record original music. The group disbanded in 1992 and Friz joined a smooth jazz band called Sha-Shaty which performed at festivals and jazz clubs throughout South Florida. During this time the band won a Jammy Award for the #1 jazz band in the state.

Within a year, Friz started his own original instrumental fusion band called Quinquinna for which he composed and arranged nearly all the material. He produced the CD "shutupandlisten" which is enclosed.

In 1998, Friz met Van Walraven who was performing at a dueling piano show at New York, New York casino in Las Vegas. At this point in his career, Friz began learning the endless amount of material required to become a successful sing-a-long entertainer. Learning this format required up to 10 hours of practice a day, but the dedication soon came to fruition when he began working with the Carnival Cruise Lines. By 2003, he had moved on and began playing at various dueling piano bars across the country. He has been doing this ever since, working as the National Entertainment Director for Ernie Biggs Dueling Piano Bars for the last 10 years before joining The Schwag.


STAGE GEAR LIST:

Hammond A100 Organ w/ Trek 2 Reverb
Leslie 122A
2 Leslie 147’s
Hammond XK3
Yamaha MO8
Roland Juno DI
Kurzweil K2000
Roland Synthax Edge Keytar
2 Turbosound TXM-15M Monitors
Radial Direct Boxes
Shure Beta 58 Microphone