Jazz Articles about Steve Coleman

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Steve Coleman: Symbols and Language

by Ian Patterson
February 20, 2012

Saxophonist Steve Coleman's The Mancy of Sound (Pi Recordings, 2011) was one of the records of 2011. Thematically and structurally challenging on the one hand, dynamic and funky on the other, the music's contrasts reflect Coleman's view of the world, in all its complexity and simplicity. Coleman's fierce intellect carries simple logic, wrapped in many-layered waves of knowledge; so, too, the music on this recording may seem overwhelming at first, until repeated listening gradually unveils the simple truths within. For ...

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Steve Coleman and Five Elements: The Mancy of Sound

by Ian Patterson
January 6, 2012

Although alto saxophonist Steve Coleman's conceptual approach to composition has grown increasingly adventurous, high-brow or esoteric, depending on your viewpoint--with lunar phases and the Yoruba of West Africa's philosophical system providing inspiration here--The Mancy of Sound merely represents Coleman's relationship to the world, which is the font of most music of worth. Retaining the same musicians from Harvesting Semblances and Affinities (Pi Recordings, 2010), Coleman's Five Elements follow-up shares its broad stylistic features, including non-western rhythms and multiple, interweaving voices, ...

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Steve Coleman and Five Elements: The Mancy of Sound

by Mark F. Turner
August 30, 2011

A saxophonist of a different order--part griot, theorist, numerologist, and incessant seeker of knowledge-- Steve Coleman continues to forge new paths in creative music. He's influenced more of today's forward thinking artists than almost anyone in recent memory with his proven M-Base concepts. His critically acclaimed 2010 recording, Harvesting Semblances and Affinities (Pi Recordings), was a welcome return to the spotlight, and the follow-up, The Mancy of Sound , is even more rewarding. To explain Coleman's music ...

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Steve Coleman and Five Elements: Harvesting Semblances and Affinities

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 25, 2010

È dedicato al filosofo Raimondo Lullo quest'ultimo CD di Steve Coleman, che al jazz degli ultimi due decenni ha regalato le idee più fervide ed emozionanti. Anche qui la dimensione rituale è al centro di un mobilissimo percorso sonoro, volto a tradurre in termini musicali (i ritmi asimettrici) le corrispondenze fisiche e simboliche tra uomo e natura, tra microcosmo e macrocosmo. Fin dal brano iniziale, l'alto-sassofonista mescola creativamente i canonici tempi pari del jazz con una mistica cadenza numerologica d'ascendenza ...

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Steve Coleman and Five Elements: Harvesting Semblances and Affinities

by Glenn Astarita
October 9, 2010

Celebrated and highly influential alto saxophonist Steve Coleman reenters the progressive jazz context with his cutting-edge Five Elements band. A purveyor of M-Base processes, which are centered upon a synchronous balance between structure and improvisation, Coleman's odd-metered metrics revert to kaleidoscopic sentiment on “Clouds."Trombonist Tim Albright launches the track with warmly stated choruses, underscored by Thomas Morgan's bulging bass lines and Jen Shyu's instrumental-like vocalizations. Slightly intensified by Coleman's darting sax lines and trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson's contrasting statements, ...

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Steve Coleman and Five Elements: Harvesting Semblances and Affinities

by Troy Collins
June 2, 2010

As the founder of the M-Base movement, alto saxophonist Steve Coleman has been at the forefront of advances in jazz composition for 25 years. Culled from traditions with roots in the diverse music of the African Diaspora, M-Base's intricate fusion of syncopated rhythms and polyphonic harmonies has provided a vivacious, forward-thinking alternative to staid conventions for over two decades. A veteran scene leader and mentor, Coleman has aided the careers of peers like Geri Allen, Greg Osby and ...

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Steve Coleman: Invisible Paths: First Scattering

by Mark Corroto
August 19, 2007

To admire the music of saxophonist Steve Coleman is, indeed to admire the man. From his origins as a Chicago musician to his current life full of exploration of philosophy, musicology, symbols, and language, he has kept a directness and lucidity about his musical presentation.

Invisible Paths: First Scattering is his first solo session, coming twenty-some years after he co-founded the M-Base collective that included (among many others) Greg Osby, Ravi Coltrane, Robin Eubanks, and Jean-Paul Bourelly. He ...