Alto Saxophone / Saxophone

Steve Coleman

(1956–)

Steve Coleman (b. 1956) — Alto Saxophone, Saxophone. Led Black Science, Rhythm in Mind. Worked with Dave Holland, Robin Eubanks, Kevin Eubanks.

Coleman developed the M-Base concept, bringing African rhythms and contemporary music elements into jazz. Listening to him changes how you perceive rhythm. He has no commercial success to speak of, yet his influence on later generations — Glasper, Akinmusire, and Vijay Iyer all acknowledge him — is enormous.

Steve Coleman's albums

Extensions

Dave Holland · 1989

Black Science

Steve Coleman · 1991

The M-Base collective Steve ColemanSteve Colemanスティーヴ・コールマン launched in Brooklyn in the mid-1980s treated rhythm not as something to swing but as something to architect. Steve ColemanSteve Colemanスティーヴ・コールマン and fellow travelers like Greg Osby fundamentally reframed jazz's rhythmic language — stop swinging, start designing.

— M-Base, Wikipedia, 2024

Steve Coleman's albums

In September 2014, Steve Coleman was named a MacArthur Fellow, recognized as an alto saxophonist and composer expanding the expressive and formal possibilities of spontaneous composition through engagement with diverse musical traditions.

— Steve Coleman, Saxophonist And Innovative Composer, Named MacArthur Fellow, NPR A Blog Supreme, 2014

In 1980s Brooklyn, Coleman convened the M-Base collective with Cassandra Wilson, Geri Allen, Greg Osby, and Robin Eubanks. Coleman stressed M-Base denotes not a musical style but a way of thinking about creating from personal experience.

— M-Base, Wikipedia, 2024