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.
Alto saxophonist Steve Coleman’s Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. I (The Embedded Sets) is his first live release in over 15 years. It captures his band Five Elements in two joyous sets at the historic New York venue where some of the most famous jazz recording from the likes of John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Bill Evans have been made.
The uncompromising American alto saxophonist Steve Coleman isn't the kind of artist to hire a marketing team, but if he was you could bet that track titles like the name of this album, or Plagal Transitions, or Diasporatic Transitions II would be straight in the shredder. Coleman is a serious thinker about contemporary music, and he doesn't wear the responsibility lightly. But behind the solemn, lecture-room gravitas, and woven between the sometimes mathematical investigation of rhythm and ensemble patterns he favours, can be a hot and soulful alto-sax improviser, and a surprisingly nimble and free-spirited nu-bop enthusiast.
The music on this "M-Base" recording, despite the difference in instrumentation, does not sound radically different than Ornette Coleman's harmelodic music of the 1980s. Altoist Steve Coleman is the lead voice throughout most of his originals and his solo style (often relying heavily on whole-tone runs and unexpected interval jumps) is intriguing, but it would be surprising if his rhythm section did not get bored playing the funky (although eccentric) rhythms after awhile.