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Live in Brooklyn - Friday, June 3rd Steve Coleman & Five Elements @ Atlantic BKLN! Back in the Brooklyn for one night only, their first US performances since October 2018, Steve Coleman and Five Elements will perform Friday June 3rd at The Atlantic in Brooklyn. Performing alongside Steve will be long time collaborators Jonathan Finlayson, Kokayi, Anthony Tidd, and the return of veteran Five Elements member Gene Lake on drums. Brining back the configuration that recorded 2021's well received Live at the Village Vanguard vol. II (Mdw Ntr), Steve and co. will make their debut in Brooklyn's newest venue. Volume II brought a new level of energy to Five Elements. The addition of masterful freestyle rapper Kokayi, whose freewheeling, rhythmically-acute, almost tent revival, introduced an aesthetic to the band not heard since Steve's 90s RCA releases. the Atlantic shows promise a continuation of the music documented at the Vanguard, which has since been further developed across subsequent European tours. Since returning to the road, the band's directive to perform as spontaneously as possible has resulted in frenetic improvisations that teeter on the edge, yet somehow still retain their form and structure. An effect only possible because of the near-telepathic level of communication the ensemble shares after decades of work over hundreds of sets. Their journey together continues. One of this music's only true "working” bands (since 1981), Five Elements continues its study of the intersection of spontaneous composition and intuitive structure. PRAISE FOR LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD VOLUME II "For all its interlocking rhythms and lattice-structured improvisations, some of the more captivating moments on this live date occur during the quieter times, when Steve Coleman is playing alone or alongside trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson." - Four Stars, DownBeat "... the music thrives for being constantly on edge. That sense of risk is enhanced by Kokayi delivering his stream-of-consciousness wordplay as a singular mix of freestyle rap, across-the-beat riff, spoken-word narrative and modern jazz vocalese... as syllables and shouts mimic the brass or fuse with Rickman’s crisply articulated beats, the tension generated is hypnotic." - Financial Times "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 "The combination of the vocals and instrumental voices is, at times, astonishing as Kokayi is right on the rhythm, interacting with Coleman and Finlayson's melody lines, Tidd's thunderous yet melodic bass lines, and Rickman's powerful, conversational, drums. Coleman's alto leads the way but everybody's voice is heard." - Step Tempest |
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