What is your favorite Steve Coleman album ?

it's a 3-way tie for me:
black science;
tao of mad phat;
def trance beat;

Joined : 03 Apr 2006 Posts : 276 Localisation : Paris

Hey all,

I can answer this one Laughing

no particular order ...

just 3 then.

tao of mad phat
the way of the cypher
the opening of the way

Dim.
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Joined : 20 Apr 2006 Posts : 57 Localisation : Rome

Def trance beat
The tao of mad phat
Curves of Life (when David Murray can't be heard Sleep

)
Black science (the album with which I discovered Steve's music)

Joined : 03 Apr 2006 Posts : 276 Localisation : Paris

in fact I can change my mind every day Laughing

I dont see any favourite album, the progression from one to the other makes them all interresting.

i really love the last One, Weaving Symbolics, lots of new stuff inside.

Well, really all i can say is that I mainly listen to live recordings. I miss some large ensemble live recordings, I love the Gdynya and Fano Council of balance gigs.

Dim.
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Hi all,

I’m back from some holidays in an Austrian town in the Alps where I grew up. There I have my car and in my car there are old tape cassettes of “Rhythm People”, “Black Sience”, “Drop Kick”, “Def Trance Beat”. So this music I heard very often in the last two weeks and I love it.

But not less than these older CDs I like “On The Rising Of the 64 Paths”, “Alternate Dimension Series I” and “Resistance Is Futile”.

There are also many tracks on other CDs which I really like. Some I regard as quite difficult to listen to but sometimes I can enjoy them more than others (then joy happens on a “higher” level).

Quite often I pedal on an exercise machine and listen to music at the same time – mostly to Dim’s recordings, in fact mostly to the newest ones. So I mostly listen to: “Amiens 2005”, “Creteil 2006”, “Marghera 2005”, “Fnac 2006” … and a compilation which I made up of some tracks of “Bari 2004” and some other recordings. So I listen to the "actual" music very often and try to get a feeling for the newest developments. That’s what I regard as the most exciting thing – my “favourite thing”.

For me it’s a special thing to move my body while listening to music. It sounds a bit different than only listening. Coleman’s LIVE recordings are perfect for that. I love the spontaneous growing of this music, its very rhythmical character.

Sometimes I like to listen to music quite in the morning, after breakfast, before going to work. The body is still lazy but the thoughts are fresh and want better food than reality. That’s a good time for me to listen to “Weaving Symbolics” – another “favourite album”.

Joined : 11 Sep 2006 Posts : 137

I agree with zeruyo,

I first discovered Steve with Black Science. Now I'm not saying that Black Science is my favorite because I first discovered Steve upon the purchase of this CD, but I'd say that I choose this CD for the pure joy of the track Turbulence. The drum solo of Smitty is the greatest drum solo I've ever heard, not by far, but its still the very best.

Being a drummer for 23 years and having heard a ton of great drummers, including Sean Rickman and Gene Lake, followed by Dave Weckl, Smitty has that magic that Steve was probably always looking for. I may be wrong, but Smitty really allowed the other musicians to explore any avenue that they wanted to traverse, especially Steve. Marvin and Steve were the perfect fit, for if the drummer can't keep up, then forget it....you can't even fake it.

BLACK SCIENCE

Joined : 20 Apr 2006 Posts : 57 Localisation : Rome

Joined : 11 Sep 2006 Posts : 137

Hello zeruyo, and thanks for your words.

I already own Extensions and The Razor's Edge, but I stopped buying Dave's music after purchasing those two. I'll give those a closer listen, though; maybe I missed it. I certainly missed Coleman when I first heard it and in fact, I thought the Black Science music was some of the worst I'd ever heard because it was so deep.

I'd say that Smitty's work with Cornelius Claudio Kreusch was better than it was with Holland, Kreusch had Kenny Garrett on sax (I don't particularly like his playing, though very good). And then we have Smitty's work with Lonnie Liston Smith, Robin and Kevin Eubanks. But we still just fall short of what Coleman allowed Smitty to do. Who else writes music in 13/8 time like Coleman (Black Science)? Smitty is so polyrhythmic its amazing.

Thanks!