Search - Steve Coleman :: Sonic Language of Myth: Believing, Learning, Knowing

This is a new plateau for Steve Coleman, perhaps the most restless and intrepid explorer of the potentials of jazz that we now have. More so than on his previous recordings, Coleman here attempts a unification of his research into the music and ideas of Africa, India, and especially ancient Egypt, with its philosophy of holism. But whatever the source of his inspiration or the meanings this music holds for Coleman (or the listener for that matter), it comes across as his most organic and provocative work to date. There are his usual funk-as-abstraction rhythms, his signature zigzag modernist saxophone lines, and buzzing collective improvisation, but there is also a complex use of singers, an expanded horn section (with guests Ravi Coltrane and Greg Osby), and a string section to frame the front line. There's also a new openness here, a willingness to drop melodic lines and let those incredible rhythm and bass patterns shine through (on "Procession"); or conversely, to drop the rhythm section to focus on the rhythmic figures working through the horn lines (as on "Gate"); and meanwhile, tonality is often toyed with and sent off on gentle angles (on "Seth," for example). This is serious music, with much to hear on each listening, but also a deeply physical music, pulsing with its own form of swing, and offering pleasure at several levels. Anyone serious about jazz in our times must come to terms with Steve Coleman. --John F. Szwed