Slain trumpeter united East Bay’s music-loving community, friends say

Friends of Anthony Anderson, the 40-year-old East Bay musician killed in a police shooting on Feb. 9, say he was more than a phenomenally talented trumpeter or a skilled teacher, able to bring out the best in his music students, of all ages and abilities.

His great gift, they say, was his facility in organizing jams – bringing together musicians and singers from all over the Bay Area at Berkeley’s Starry Plough or anywhere else, where he performed his beloved funk, jazz, R&B and soul music in a fun, improvisational way.