Steve Coleman has been a mainstay in the ever-changing jazz world since the 1980s. First as a sideman for stars such as Dave Holland, Cassandra Wilson, and Errol Parker, and later as the frontman of his own band. As a leader, he has released over thirty albums.
Coleman's musical poetics tended toward the sparse and abstract, but recent live recordings (Live at the Village Vanguard 1 and 2) and concerts with the current Five Elements lineup signal a strong, energetic return to groove and funk.
Steve Coleman often employs new practices of "non-linear interpretation". With Five Elements, he uses spontaneous and pre-composed modules or melodic cells that can be played in any order, allowing each musician to spontaneously jump forward or backward to different sections, highlighting different layers of the music and reinventing the form with each performance.
Five Elements uses cyclical rhythmic strategies as a foundation, adapted from West African and South Asian music, infected with a James Brown-style funk groove. Composer and alto saxophonist Coleman has always been known for collaborations outside the jazz scene, whether in joint projects with musicians from Africa or trips to the studio to record albums by The Roots and MC Solaara. His technical and compositional virtuosity continues to merge with musical traditions and styles from around the world, thus expanding the possibilities of spontaneous composition.
Coleman's extensive catalog updates various musical idioms by infusing melodic, rhythmic, and structural components inspired by various African, Asian, and Latin cultures. Coleman is a polymath, also drawing inspiration from nature, metaphysics and science. In 2015, his album Synovial Joints was voted Jazz Album of the Year by the New York Times, while 2017's Morphogenesis topped many critics' year-end lists.