Description
PolyTropos / Of Many Turns is the highly-anticipated new release from influential saxophonist / composer Steve Coleman. Comprised of two live sets recorded during a tour in France, it features his band Five Elements, with long-running partners Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet and Sean Rickmanon drums, with new addition Rich Brownon bass. PopMatters said of his 2021 releaseLive at the Village Vanguard, Volume II(Mdw Ntr) "The tides of his creativity continue to swell, change, surge... It is, actually, a refraction of culture and tradition that includes James Brown and Public Enemy, Jimi Hendrix and Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Kanye West. It's art infused with all that information, and it challenges us simultaneously."
Recorded in concert in Paris and Voiron, the performances are raw, relying on spontaneous conversions of rhythmic and tonal shapes that weave musical figures into continuous movements. A highly visual composer and improvisor, Coleman has recently drawn inspiration from following the logical chains of amino acids, inventively imbuing them with musical information. Acting on their collective, mysterious whim, the band takes the audience through exhilarating pivots and swerves based on some secret, enigmatic internal logic. It is collective improvisation of the highest order.
Steve Coleman: alto saxophone
Jonathan Finlayson: trumpet
Rich Brown: bass
Sean Rickman: drums