Steve Coleman
The influence of M-Base founder, composer, and alto saxophonist Steve Coleman cannot be overstated. His technical and compositional virtuosity engages with musical traditions and styles from around the world to expand possibilities for spontaneous composition. Whether performing solo or with Steve Coleman and Five Elements, he delivers performances of original works with rigorous focus and relies on execution and imagination in improvised pieces. His original works weave disciplined rhythmic structures, refined tonal progressions, and overlapping and mixed meters into emotionally expressive, fluid inquiries and statements. Coleman's large catalog updates various musical idioms by infusing them with melodic, rhythmic, and structural components inspired by various African, Asian, and Latin cultures. 1997's The Sign and the Seal: Transmissions of the Metaphysics of a Culture was recorded in Havana with Afrocuba de Matanzas. A polymath, Coleman is also inspired by nature, metaphysics, and science. 2013's Functional Arrhythmias musically mapped the pulsating patterns of the human heart. 2015's Synovial Joints was selected Jazz Album of the Year by the New York Times, while 2017's Morphogenesis topped many critics' year-end lists. 2018 and 2021 saw the release of Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 1 and 2, marking the end of a 15-year absence from live recording.
Coleman was raised in Chicago. His earliest years were spent playing in R&B and funk bands in emulation of his first hero, Maceo Parker. Coleman had heard all the greats in his hometown, including Von Freeman, who had a profound influence on him. He changed his focus from R&B to jazz precipitating his move to New York. He gigged with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis big band, followed by Sam Rivers' All-Star Orchestra and eventually, Cecil Taylor's big-band project. He began working with other leaders as well, including David Murray, Abbey Lincoln, and Michael Brecker. But Coleman was restless; he began listening to other music, particularly that of West Africa (he later traveled to Ghana to study). His music evolved, and he continued to play side gigs, honing his sound and compositions -- he has a totally original alto tone -- by playing in the street.
Coleman's first band, the Five Elements, would be formed by street cats including Graham Haynes. The band came up with the M-Base concept in 1985 ("macro-basic array of spontaneous extemporization") and signed with the European JMT label. Others in the M-Base crew include Gary Thomas, Geri Allen, Greg Osby, Robin Eubanks, and Cassandra Wilson. Coleman developed complex musical theories about integrating the rhythms of funk, soul, world music, and jazz. He eventually signed with BMG and started three other bands, Mystic Rhythm Society, Metrics, and Council of Balance. He also passed through Dave Holland's innovative trio and quartet. In the 21st century, Coleman has primarily concentrated on his own music as executed by several different bands he leads, though he has shown up occasionally as a sideman, most notably with Roy Hargrove's jazz-funk outfit RH Factor and with trombonist Craig Harris.
In addition to issuing over 20 records under his own name, he is a sought-after producer who has helmed dates for Geri Allen, Cassandra Wilson, Sam Rivers, and Ravi Coltrane. In 2010, he signed to Pi Recordings. His first three albums for the label -- 2010's Harvesting Semblances and Affinities, 2011's The Mancy of Sound, and 2013's Functional Arrhythmias (all with Five Elements) -- were widely acclaimed and preceded his 2014 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (the "genius" grant). Coleman utilized the 21-piece Council of Balance for 2015's Synovial Joints, and followed it two years later with Morphogenesis, which debuted his nonet Natal Eclipse and was selected by the NPR Jazz Critics Poll as one of the year's best albums.
In 2018, Coleman and the Five Elements ended a 15-year respite from live recording with Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol 1: The Embedded Sets, and three years later followed with Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 2 (MDW NTR).
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
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Discography
15 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Introducing M-Base - Brooklyn In The 1980's (Jubilee Edition)
Jazz - Released by Winter & Winter on 10 Apr 2015
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live at the Village Vanguard Volume II (Mdw Ntr) (Live)
Jazz - Released by Pi Recordings on 29 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Steve Coleman's Music Live In Paris : 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Sony Music Entertainment on 28 Aug 2015
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harvesting Semblances and Affinities
Jazz - Released by Pi Recordings on 8 Jun 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Way Of The Cipher Live In Paris
Jazz - Released by RCA Records Label on 13 Nov 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Way Of The Cipher Live In Paris
Pop/Rock - Released by RCA Records Label on 13 Nov 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rhythm In Mind (The Carnegie Project)
Jazz - Released by RCA Novus on 29 Apr 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Myths, Modes & Means Live In Paris
Steve Coleman, The Mystic Rhythm Society
Jazz - Released by RCA Records Label on 13 Nov 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Invisible Paths: First Scattering
Alternative & Indie - Released by Tzadik on 31 Jul 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moonshiners and Knights
Folk - Released by Creekboy Records on 28 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Myths, Modes & Means Live In Paris
Steve Coleman, The Mystic Rhythm Society
Jazz - Released by RCA Records Label on 13 Nov 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 1 (The Embedded Sets)
Jazz - Released by Pi Recordings on 10 Aug 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Not Making Much Sense
Folk - Released by Cozy Records on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Functional Arrhythmias
Jazz - Released by Pi Recordings on 26 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo