(2021) Steve Coleman - Live at the Village Vanguard Volume II



Review:
Steve Coleman‘s second volume of Village Vanguard performances dazzles as expected but even more for the fact that much of the material was composed on the fly. The rapport the alto saxophonist has established with longtime collaborators trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, electric bassist Anthony Tidd, drummer Sean Rickman, and spoken word artist (MC or rapper, if you prefer) Kokayi is staggering, so much so the performances come across like renderings of material fastidiously developed before hitting the stage. The performances aren’t improvs in the purest sense, however; instead, motivic cells are often utilized that provide a basic scaffolding for the musicians to build upon, and further to that, the set-list combines familiar tunes, “Little Girl I’ll Miss You” an example, with new ones less beholden to strictly defined structures and melodies. (Coleman also apparently drew for inspiration in the writing from the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system known as Mdw Ntr.) The flexibility consciously incorporated into the music allows for any number of possible directions to be pursued live, and consequently there’s spontaneity yet form and structure too. Stylistically, the music is wholly consistent with the kind Coleman’s long issued. Roiling patterns drive the performances with relentless momentum, with the Tidd-Rickman tag-team an ever-reliable rhythm machine for the extemporizations of the saxophonist and trumpeter. The opening “Menes to Midas” gives a good impression of the overall approach. Coleman initiates the ride with unaccompanied musings that eventually settle into a thematic figure the others latch onto. Patterns assemble into an intricately woven and kinetic mass, with Tidd anchoring the playing and the inventive Rickman partnering. At one point Finlayson states the theme while Coleman solos, after which the two switch roles, the move indicative of the music’s built-in support system. Throughout the release, the two show themselves to be endlessly voluble and resourceful players. The personnel’s the same as appeared on the first volume Pi released in mid-2018 with one key exception: Kokayi in place of guitarist Miles Okazaki. Okazaki’s not only a special player who brings a fresh perspective to the guitar, he blends and contrasts effectively with the other front-liners—though, admittedly, the same can be said of Kokayi. He picks his moments carefully, but when he weighs in the energy level immediately escalates. Cases in point, his freewheeling attack gives extra bite to the thrusting funk of “Pad Thai-Mdw Ntr” and “Rumble Young Man, Rumble” and the careening roar of “9 to 5” and “DeAhBo (Reset).” Yet while I’d rather hear electric guitar than spoken word in this band, Coleman’s openness to new concepts is always worth supporting. The choice reflects a panoramic musical vision that’s got as much room in its mix for hip-hop as jazz. With eleven tracks totaling 134 minutes, the average piece is twelve minutes, which, characteristic of live performance, means the band liberally stretches out, allows ideas room to develop, and lets explorations take them where they will. It’s a long recording, then, and longer, really, than it needs to be. By the time the twenty-one-minute closer “9 to 5-Mdw Ntr” arrives, you could be forgiven for wishing the release had been shorter; one is best advised to approach the material like the live club set it is and take a replenishing break halfway through. Even so, the fury the band gets up to can be awesome. During the medley-styled “Compassion (drum solo)-Ascending Numeration-DeAhBo (Reset),” the ferocious, high-velocity episodes where Finlayson and Kokayi solo play like a roller-coaster ever threatening to leave the tracks, and the honking groove is so wicked on “Mdw Ntr” it’s well nigh impossible to sit still. — Textura


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Track Listing:
1.Menes to Midas 12:29
2.Unit Fractions 16:15
3.Little Girl I'll Miss You 09:34
4.Compassion (drum solo) - Ascending Numeration - DeAhBo (Reset) 16:14
5.Pad Thai-Mdw Ntr 14:33
6.9 to 5 09:36
7.Mdw Ntr 08:42
8.Rumble Young Man, Rumble 08:52
9.Khet & KaBa 07:38
10.DeAhBo (Reset) 08:04
11.9 to 5 - Mdw Ntr 21:33


Media Report:
Genre:  jazz
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits