The AC Unit

Formed by Anthony Casolari, The AC Unit strives to push th envelope of what jazz is sonically, and how the genre is presented at its very core.  The band takes influence from everything including Jazz, Rock, Classical Music, Metal, Hip Hop, Latin Jazz, Funk, and more.

A little bit about the founding members - 

Anthony Casolari is a Master's grad from UNT's Jazz studies program.  While at UNT, Anthony played in the One, Two, Three, and Four O'clock lab bands as well as the Latin jazz lab.  He worked with Lynn Seaton in both his undergrad and masters at UNT, and also worked with Gudrun Raschen for 4 years in his undergraduate degree.  As a member of the One o'clock lab band and the UNT jazz lecture series program, Anthony got to record bass on Lab 2024, the Two O'clock's album "Born Two Swing!", and perform alongside Helen Sung, Billy Childs, Steve Davis, Nicole Zuraitis, Helen Sung, Lyle Lovett, Delfeayo Marsalis, Zach Brock, Camille Thurman, Miki Yamanaka, Miguel Zenon, Darmon Meader, Ashlin Parker, Sylvester Onyejiaka, and many more.  Anthony was a member of the 2025 JAS academy big band session where he worked with Christian McBride, Brian Lynch, and Chuck Bergeron for two weeks and then performed alongside Jose James, Alicia Olatuja, Brian Lynch, and Christian Mcbride.  Prior to attending UNT, Anthony worked as an active sideman in the South Florida jazz scene and was fortunate to have been asked to play along side many local greats like Ira Sullivan, Melton Mustafa, Billy Ross, and Dr. Lonnie Smith.

Joshua Cossette is a doctoral candidate in jazz arranging at UNT, having previously earned his Masters from UNT jazz arranging, and his undergraduate degree in Jazz performace from FSU.  With over 30 years experience on the piano, impeccable ears, and a touch on the instrument that even some of Jazz's greatest have commented on it's no wonder why he's the go to pianist for The AC Unit.  Joshua has performed and recorded with the UNT Jazz singers, and the UNT Three o'clock lab band.  He has also arranged for all the UNT lab bands including the One O'clock Lab Band, and several of his arrangements were recorded on the Two O'clock album "Born Two Swing!"

Adam McGrath is a guitarist from Rochester, New York.  Known for his versatility on many different instruments, Adam brings a wide skill set and pool of knowledge to The AC Unit.  After he earned his undergraduate degree in Jazz studies from UNT in 2019, he went on to work as a sideman in many different bands in the DFW area and continues to actively perform and teach in the area.

Josh Parker is a South Dakota native, who got his BM in jazz studies in spring of 2023.  His musical roots lie in gospel, jazz, and latin percussion.  At UNT he studied with the likes of Ed Soph, Qunicy Davis, and Jose Aponte and went on to play drums in various lab bands (including the latin lab), and percussion on select charts in the One O'clock.