What are you listening to?

Presently I often listen to the new official CDs “Weaving Symbolics”.

I already liked some tracks on those 2 CDs when I listened to them for the first time: all versions of “Triad Mutation”, “Unction”, “Trigrams”, all “Rituals”

Some other tunes have needed some effort to like them really: “Tehu Seven”, “Tetragrams”, “Circle Weaving Thirteen”, “Li Bai”, “Numerology”

And some tracks are still a bit strange for me: “Gregorian”, “Glyphs in Motion”

I often listen to the CDs to get a feeling for this complex but also bright music.

What are you listening to? Smile

Joined : 03 Apr 2006 Posts : 276 Localisation : Paris

Sorry Manfred,

didnt see your post Shocked

Well actually Im listening to a lot of 1998 stuff.

this is a special year because it is a year without any piano or harmonic instrument (except the 4 Council of balance dates in late august).

In 1998 I've seen Steve performing a lot and I do remember his sound was absolutly fantastic.

I was at the following gigs :

Athis mons - 280298 -
Paris, La cigale - 14&15.03.98 -
Willisau - 300898 -
Paris la Cigale - 11.11.98 -

They are all of them very strong in my memory.

A funny story is that at the Paris march 15th gig I was caught with my DAT recorder by security agent and therefore I couldnt tape the show and I was really disapointed at that time.

The show was very good to me, the tense were really strong and it was really hot in the club.Sean and Anga had some ferocious battles and the audience was really amazed by the group.

The day before the sound was really bad so when i came back I expected the sound engineer to improve and it was average, but still I could hear Steve very well this time. But still I was alone cause nobody wanted to see Steve twice in 2 days !

So the show began and as I was a little bit high the music deeply moved me and at one point during the FLINT song Steve went almost out of the stage, far from the microphone and he plays softly and the audience went very quiet to hear him play.
It seems so beautiful to me that tears went thru my eyes during that song and I saw a lot of people around me very emotionnally hurt.
then after this long quiet song the band played FIRST CAUSE with his funky bass line...and the audience went mad and everybody started groovin with the group.
At this time I went from a state of melancholy to a state of happiness in just about 3 seconds and I then started to cry but because of happiness this time....

A very strange state of mind that only happend to me twice in my life (Oumou Sangaré at the new morning in 1993 was the other one).

So after the show that I thought was fantastic I came to get my DAT recorder back and went back home with the feeling I should have recorded this one.

Then for years and years I was looking after the tape in the internet website, friends etc but couldnt find it until Steve gave it to me a year ago I think. a the same time he told me that he didnt find the music exceptionnal and that I was maybe wrong about the concert.

The funny thing is that I was really curious to hear that and when after 6 years, when I listened to that tape, I thought the music was average (except the FLINT passage which is great I think).

So sometimes perosnnal feelings are really...perosnnal Smile

In this spring tour there is a few really good concerts but there is also a gem, in fact 2:

Steve Coleman and Five Elements

* 03/03/98 Melkweg, Amsterdam, NL.
140' 2CD A+ From Soundboard.

Steve Coleman and Five Elements

* 20/03/98 Domicil Jazzclub, Dortmund-Germany.
120' 2CD A+ Soundboard

Those 2 gigs are brilliant and I consider them one of the best example of Steve as a leading musician driving his band thru his repertoire and made of songs.

Later that year I took my car and some friends to go in Willisau because there was something special going on :

The council of Balance with a group of 15 musicians, a musical exchange mainly between Cubans and americans.
Once again the sound was really bad because of the large hall boomy sound but the music was great.
I do remember a really good drum duo between Sean and Julio Baretto that sets the audience on fire.

Then 2 months later I went back to La cigale in Paris to see the Five Elements.
This time the sound was really good and I sat in the balcony with my DAT recorder this time.
Starting with some kind of improv the whole show was great with Steve in a very good mood and he played for long solos.

All in all a very good year
Wink

The strong point in this year is that Steve was soloing a lot in theses concerts, he had a really open space to fill with his instrument and the other stron point is that Anthony and Sean knew Steve's vast repertoire and therefore a lot different things were played during thoses concerts.

Let say that Im listening to the following concerts theses days :

Steve Coleman and Five Elements

* 02/02/98 Bengalore, India 120' 2CD A- Audience
Especially the second set.

Steve Coleman and Five Elements

* 03/03/98 Melkweg, Amsterdam, NL.
140' 2CD A+ From Soundboard.

Steve Coleman and Five Elements

* 20/03/98 Domicil Jazzclub, Dortmund-Germany.
120' 2CD A+ Soundboard

Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance

* 29/08/98 Saafelden Jazz Festival, Austria 70' 1CD B
From radio show.

Steve Coleman and Five Elements

* 11/11/98 La Cigale, Paris 90' 2CD A Sony ECM907->MD
With Anthony Tidd, Sean Rickman, Anga Diaz + Guests Ravi Coltrane and Andy Milne during second half of the concert.
Complete concert

Steve Coleman and Five Elements

* 29/10/98 Quasimodo Club, Berlin. Germany.
120' 3CD A Soundboard from K7.

Take a ride thru the files and enjoy the music farao

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Hi Dimitri!

Thanks for this really fine emotional review! I feel like listen to those concerts. I like to read about your experiences. It stimulates my mind and I would like to answer in better way than I can. My English is a problem.

I guess: In a sense this 1998-music is like a counterpart to “Weaving Symbolics”: a very strong rhythmical web with huge freedom for Steve Coleman. In contrast, many tracks of “Weaving Symbolics” have very tight webs of melody-lines producing rich harmonies and the rhythm-section seems to be rather in the background.

I like both. The richness of that music is mind-blowing.

Tears:
I can’t help Wink

but I am often moved to tears by music - mostly by old folk music from the Alps (where I grew up) or other rather uncomplex music. But there is also a sequence in a Steve-Coleman-recording which moved me to tears several times: One of my favourite tunes has been the version of "Figit Time" in the concert 25/07/04 Bari, Italy. In the later part of the track Jen Shyu seems to sing the words “so beautiful” in a very fine manner and that is exactly the way how I experience this music. Therefore these words brought tears into my eyes several times.

This morning I listened to some short audio files at http://www.allmusic.com/ to hear Oumou Sangaré. Her singing is really touching.

Really personal feelings:
I think: What is in the air is nothing but a tone, no music. Music comes into being only in a persons mind. Nobody can be sure to have the better experience. If you had a great experience it really was great. – And it is nice to read about these experiences.

I am downloading the files and say: Thank you!

Yesterday I burned the 03/03/98-Amsterdam-concert, listened to it and was really fascinated! Steve Coleman’s long improvisations are pure enjoyment and this rhythm section (Anga, Rick, Tidd) seems to be unsurpassable - in this vein.

This morning my mind asked for the very different “Weaving Symbolics”. I listened to CD 1 and for the first time I could enjoy really every tune. It just took some time to get familiar with all this complex harmonies. But now I can not say what I love more: the 1998-recordings or “Weaving”.

It is very inspiring for me to read about the experiences of others and talk myself. It is good to listen to the music in a relationship to others. Too lonesome listening makes the music a bit flat. It is just a social thing.

Therefore I hope that this forum will keep alive. Neutral

Joined : 03 Apr 2006 Posts : 276 Localisation : Paris

Manfred,

The purpose of this forum is to have some nice talks between people about Steve's music mainly and even If Im so disapointed by my english, I try to write some stuff to tell a story.

I will try to tell other stories, as they come to my head, in the future and eventually this forum will stay alive.

I see now that people are going in this forum to have access to the music and that's all...well that's life Cool

Little by little we will build something I hope.

I do remember this Bari concert very well, it was the last gig of the summer tour which was quiet challenging for everybody.
We had fun on the tour and we didnt slept that much !

The atmosphere for the Bari gig was relax, the concert was almost canceled because of a big storm in the afternoon during the soundcheck but eventually the musicians took the stage.
The Figit time is the high point in this concert, Jen's singing is very moving and the horns behind her are really strong !
I like that part too.
I do remember everybody was happy by this performance after all.

A bientot,

Dimitri.
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Hello Dim!

I think: Your English is really ok. I can understand it well although my English is a good deal worse than yours. The low language ability forces to write simply. Therefore I (and others) can better read it. That is a benefit! Smile

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I’m writing posts to a German spoken Jazz Forum for several years. Very often I was disappointed about the lack of any answer. But one day I noticed that there were always a nice number of views to my posts. Therefore I thought like you said: “I try to write some stuff to tell a story” – my own story - as long as somebody read it.
Later I read that a new kind of writing is in vogue: blog! Yeah, that’s what I have done many times!

Sometimes there are really good discussions at that forum. Sometimes the forum is quiet lively, sometimes nearly dead. Some people come, others disappear. Some people seem to disappear but stay on as readers … often I have been disappointed, sometimes I’m surprised. For example: Recently I wrote about “Weaving Symbolics”. I expected that no one will answer. Anyway 38 views are really ok. And then: 2 people wrote that they are so interested in this music that they ordered the CD. That’s not worldshaking but it’s a good feeling to get trough to somebody. Smile

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Bari concert:
It’s inspiring to read your little “story” about this concert.
The storm: I remember that the wind blew the sheets of music to the ground during the song “Mist and Counterpoise” (after Figit Time). Jen Shyu sings very touching. I love the atmosphere of this song (and the windy atmosphere on the video). The solos of the horns are very nice too.

Figit Time: “The horns behind Jen Shyu are really strong!” – Yeah, exactly!!

“The Figit time is the high point in this concert”: It’s good to read that my preference for that song is not completely far out.

A bientot

Manfred

i got 'weaving symbolics' in the mail today and i'm loving it already.
thank you steve coleman once again!

marcelo

Joined : 03 Apr 2006 Posts : 276 Localisation : Paris

Hi all,

As much as I love Steve older music I'm so glad he is playing something new each time and not playing the same old thing everyday Very Happy

I really enjoy Weaving Symbolics too !
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I've been actually listening to the "Weaving Symbolics" album over and over. They are some tunes that I really like, such as "Gregorian", "Tehu", "Numerology". I like "Li Bai" which is not really a tune.. actually there is no such things as tunes in Steve's music I will say. We should rather call them compositions.

Do you guys know who is "Li Bai" ? this is what I got from wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Bai.

I don't know about you guys but I am as much interested in the music per se as I am by the concepts behind it (if not more). Anybody will have a clue why "Li Bai" in the context of this album, is it just Jen' suggestion ?

I will definetly find hard to believe that it is just by chance that "Li Bai" find itself at the center of the album: I am referring here to what Steve is talking about in the DVD. Namely that each song is balanced by another in the album, except "Li Bai".

Anyway, I find that Steve's music is more and more codified in that it is increasingly hard to understand (and may be fully enjoy) without understanding the esoteric background. I'm deeply into it so for me the "change" (if any) is for the better. But I'm curious to see what other peopl e think.

I found it so interesting in "Element of One" when Steve explains what "Seth" represents in his music: a certain progression of ratios. I'm sure I didn't get everything, and it's too bad that the piece on "Seth" is so short (it's actually just a bonus material on the dvd), and I always wondered why he and Eve-Maria edited so much of the material.

Joined : 03 Apr 2006 Posts : 276 Localisation : Paris

Hello Charles,

nice to see you here btw ...

I have both recording in my private collection but we agreed with Steve on NOT releasing recording sessions.

I really enjoy the rehearsal sessions that took place in India. As seen on Eve documentary called "Elements on one", Steve is very relaxed and his playing is great, especially with the women singers.

I might ask him what he thinks about making publis thoses rehearsals sessions.

As for an official release, I dont think so but you should ask Steve, either in this forum or thru his email to ask him as he is the only one able to answer.

I might say that Im goign back to thoses recordings very often because of the special atmosphere....

Dimitri.
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Among "General Discussion", "Concert Reviews" etc. there is a "Contact With The Musicians"!

The "old" tune: It think it is "Nine To Five"??

Manfred

Joined : 03 Apr 2006 Posts : 276 Localisation : Paris

Manfred,

The tune is Nine to Five, one of the song Steve played during all his career in very different settings and in differents arrangments.

During thoses Indian days they also rehearse a lot Kaballah which they eventually record.

If you want to ask question to the musicians thru this forum, you can post your question in the "question to the musicians" section Laughing

I did this section mainly for musicians that you might not find the email easily, for Steve you can send him an email, he will answer.

But thru this forum, the interresting thing is that everybody can see the question and answer, that might be interresting for everyone.

Dim.
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