Steve Coleman and Five Elements - PolyTropos /Of Many Turns (Pi Recordings 2024)

By Don Phipps

Alto saxophonist Steve Coleman has long been a force on the jazz scene. Coleman cut his teeth in the 80s. He was part of a quintet put together by bassist extraordinaire Dave Holland [the Quintet with Coleman issued three excellent albums – Jumpin In (ECM, 1984), Seeds of Time (ECM, 1985) and The Razor’s Edge (ECM, 1987). He also participated in two other projects with Holland, Triplicate (ECM, 1988) with the bassist and drummer Jack DeJohnette, and Extensions (ECM, 2008), where he and Holland were joined by Kevin Eubanks on guitar and Marvin “Smitty” Smith on drums. In addition, he had short stints with Sam River’s Studio Rivbea Orchestra and Cecil Taylor’s big band.

It was also during the 80s that Coleman found his own voice in jazz, creating a Brooklyn-based school of music called M-base (which stands for micro-basic array of structured extemporization) with fellow alto saxophonist Greg Osby and trumpeter Graham Haynes (whose father, drummer Roy Haynes, sadly, recently passed – a musician whose drumming technique was rightfully critically acclaimed). Even as M-base was taking its baby steps, the 80s jazz scene experienced a takeover of concert venues by what was labeled mainstream jazz (example, Jazz at Lincoln Center). Its strongest advocate was Wynton Marsalis. In various ways, mainstream jazz was a reactionary movement meant to ostracize and expunge free jazz and other experimental jazz forms from “real jazz,” jazz based on the traditions of swing and bop (ironically, and in a similar vein, in the 1940s, bop too was ostracized by the proponents of swing who claimed that jazz was and always would be a music for dancing. LOL.).

M-base stood apart from the mainstream movement. It focused on dark probing energy combined with what trumpeter Dave Douglas referred to as a 12-tone language (a language that drew from Schoenberg’s early 20 ^th Century 12 tone system). While not free or atonal per se, it was adventurous and experimental – and synthesized musical elements like blues, funk, free, and importantly hip hop (which had not been part of the larger jazz scene at that point). At its core was a rhythmically complex dense urban sound – music that emphasized hot improvisations over heavy syncopated lines and music that Coleman described as “spiritual, rhythmic, and melodic development.”

Coleman is not only one of M-base’s founders, but its most ardent practitioner – beginning his experiments with the musical form in a series of 80s albums and extending the form to the present day. Those wishing to check out Coleman’s early efforts in M-base would do well to take a listen to his albums Motherland Pulse (JMT,1985), Rhythm People (The Resurrection Of Creative Black Civilization) (Novus, 1990), and the hip hop opus A Tale Of 3 Cities, The EP (Novus,1995) – all highly recommended.

Coleman most often records with his group The Five Elements. This group has evolved over time. The first album released by the group was 1986’s World Expansion (JMT, 1986), and on that release, the group featured the late great Geri Allen (piano). Graham Haynes (trumpet), fellow Holland alum Robin Eubanks (trombone), Kelvyn Bell (guitar), Kevin Bruce Harris (bass), and Mark Johnson (drums).

The configuration that plays on PolyTropos – Of Many Turns, is Coleman, Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Rich Brown (electric bass), and Sean Rickman (drums). A March 2024 live recording of two concerts, one in Paris, one in Villon, PolyTropos – Of Many Turns catches Coleman and bandmates in inspired, head-nodding fashion, articulating the very essence of M-base – the soulful and funky exposition of improvised forms over propelling rhythms. The first number, “Spontaneous Pi,” is a case in point. It begins with an intense repetitive motif as both horns improvise in spurts above. There is a lot of call and response here - Finlayson answering Coleman and Coleman answering back. The next cut, “Spontaneous One,” features a jagged beat. Coleman offers a bluesy solo – almost “Bird” like. Rickman shines on the third track, “Spontaneous All.” His drum solo migrates in and out of the funk. Harmonic lines are the highlight of “Mdw Ntr,” a piece that approaches free form while staying anchored to a rhythmic structure.

Other album highlights –

• the full-on aggressive approach on “9-5,” a number that would have Dolly Parton doing backflips;
• the almost rotational spin on “Of Many Turns,” the music like a top whirling about looking for a resting place;
• the nod to the tradition by Coleman on his solo recitation of “Lush Life Cadenza/Pi,” “Lush Life” being the Billy Strayhorn classic popularized by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and which here, is a prelude to the track’s sparkling notes and dramatic flair bookcased by slurring runs;
• and the cover of the Thelonious Monk standard, “Round Midnight” in Charlie Parker “Embraceable You” fashion - the theme hidden in an array of embellishments and phrases. For those interested in Bird’s approach to “Embraceable You” [originally issued on the album Boss Bird Disc 2 on Proper Records (P1282) – 1947] it is available on several compilations of Charlie Parker’s work with Miles Davis.

It is great to hear M-base in action and to realize that it remains relevant as a musical form today. With its strong rhythmic syncopation and anchored improvisation, Steve Coleman’s PolyTropos – Of Many Turns is a spirited life-affirming album that says while the heart beats, the music lives.