Black Science: Steve Coleman & The World of M-Base

[@eliottmorst2968]

i like how you teach the drummer the rhythm

[@Rigpasword]

Wow, so privileged to see this retrospective on Steve’s amazing life and career… I feel bad it’s taken me so long to discover his music and artistry but alas, it’s never too late… many thanks to whoever put this short video together and shared it.

[@truthlifecoaching2633]

Hey my friend, my brother, Steve! You are one the many greats we were honored to grow alongside. Thank you for sharing. Continued success to you, and your tribe Love ya big! #mbase #musicmarvel

[@stuartfishman1044]

Steve Coleman's music is so vibrant, so alive. I'm happy to have both Synovial Joints and The Sonic Language Of Myth in my CD collection.

[@mbaseconcepts]

Thanks for the props!

[@ompiba]

Arthur Jafa is there also ! Thanks for this documentary your crew ! Peace from Paris !

[@callmejeffbob]

Very interesting documentary. I was just listening to a CD in my car that is an anthology of some early recordings of Steve Coleman and other M-Base artists like Greg Osby, Cassandra Wilson, Robin Eubanks, etc. Two of the tunes on the CD were featured in this film so it was cool to hear them again in the context of the narrative by Steve Coleman and the others. Creative, uncompromising artists to say the very least. Go buy some of their music- support creative music!

[@mpiper4781]

A slept on musical mind. Not of course to you jazz deep divers. But to the rest. Most of the rest. I hope that changes. It needs to. It's critical. I hope his ideas, theories and music shape future players - hiphop especially. Sample him, of course, but also understand what he was doin - the big picture.

[@mbaseconcepts]

Thanks for the props.

[@rembeadgc]

Very interesting. Nice to hear a focused take on M-Base from Steve and others who helped originate the approach to making the music.

[@mikheilpataraia8439]

love your music ...

[@JacksonPolyp]

Love that tarantula on Graham Haynes's head

[@mbaseconcepts]

LOL

[@damianodami7582]

Great documentary

[@TruthMatters1202]

Chicago has produced so many great musicians! Thank you. :)

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

still love it!!

[@CaptainKarma1972]

Man ! Thank you so much for sharing this !!! Particularly that 5 Elements band with Gene on drums , Reggie Washington on bass... circa “Def Trance Beat Modalities of Rhythm “... Brilliant ! Wonder if there is a video of that famously recorded HoT BRASs (FRANCE ) concert ? Thanks again for sharing this !!!

[@mbaseconcepts]

No video that I know of.

[@AbstractMan23]

very interesting - thanks!

[@domininic]

6:32

[@keremeye]

this video is more about the tao mat phat period i guess. the 90's was socool

[@Simonewhitesim-1music]

Yes!!!!!!!!

[@riverboatShuffle]

What's the song Steve Coleman is introducing to Gene Lake at 9:02?

[@mbaseconcepts]

Perspicuity, composed by Doug Hammond. I am singing the drum chant to Gene.

[@riverboatShuffle]

Thank you! It was helpful to learn about the drum chant concept from the video. I'll try transcribing the tune.

[@effsixteenblock50]

Would it be possible for someone to point me to an actual audio example of the utilization of spirals? Though I have a basic undertanding of the concept, I've never *knowingly* heard it. There are times when I thought I might have but it might have been octave or some other intervalic displacement. An aside - one of my favorite recordings is Phase Space, a duo of Steve Coleman & Dave Holland that I happened to come across while in Japan. Thanks!

[@mbaseconcepts]

Where is this video (time stamp) are you referring to? You need to ask your question in more detail. Maybe you don’t know this, but the entire natural tonal system is a spiral. But I imagine that this is not what you are referring to.

[@effsixteenblock50]

@@mbaseconcepts I'm not referring to anything in the video. I thought that if I asked the question here, it would be seen by others who potentially would be able to point me to an audio example, which I've been looking for for years. Actually, between now and the time I wrote the first post, I was entering some of the examples from your Symmetrical Movement Concept into a sequencer. I never dreamed you (I'm assuming this is Steve) would be the one to respond, especially so quickly. Don't let me take you away from your holiday! Thank you so much!

[@mbaseconcepts]

@@effsixteenblock50 No problem. This is Steve, and I don't celebrate Thanksgiving. So you mean the spirals in the symmetrical movement theory. What's your question about this exactly? The more precise the question, the better I can reply.

[@effsixteenblock50]

@@mbaseconcepts Hi Steve, I also don't celebrate Thanksgiving, likely for similar reasons. I guess what I had been ideally hoping for originally was a recorded example of you "working" the Symmetrical Movement Concept, something like, "Here in (insert song title here), between 4:03 and 4:17, the utilization of the Symmetrical Movement Concept can be heard." I realize that when playing actual music, the goal is not to put musical devices on full obvious display, but to seamlessly integrate them. From further investigation, it seems like the utilization of the Symmetrical Movement Concept doesn't have an overt sound signature, in that one can go in so many different directions with it in an instant, so my request for an audio example might be unrealistic. I really appreciate your time Steve!

[@mbaseconcepts]

@@effsixteenblock50 You are exactly correct. I don't use any "theory" in actual performance exclusively. I don't play according to theories, I'm trying to express or communicate something (usually a non musical idea) and the theories and other things that I develop are just tools. I give examples on my website, that's the closest that you are going to get to what you are asking. Maybe the melody of compositions like "Pad Thai" or "9 to 5" uses it more than some compositions. At this point it's totally integrated, so I don't think about it much. It DOES have a sound though, and that's the point, moving shapes that produce certain tonal areas. I can't get deeper without giving actual lessons, as this stuff takes demonstrations.

[@Drivethebeat]

3:15 Beavis and Butthead laughing..

[@BlasJohnny]

Nice

[@wids]

BlasJohnny its weird that we all saw this around the same time

[@carlosalcazarcarlbop3925]

yo tenia la cancion que sale en el minuto 1.17 , no recuerdo como se llama?

[@mbaseconcepts]

This is a spontaneous composition, which we used to do at during that time period. We have a lot of spontaneous compositions, even more so now that in the past. Thanks for checking out the video, and please go to m-base.net to check out more videos.

[@slapit145]

first song?

[@mbaseconcepts]

The first song is called Pad Thai.

[@slapit145]

@@mbaseconcepts Thanks Steve, much respect!

[@JoshuaDb_The_Witness]

I dont mean to be sour at all - but - why is it that I dont hear cats like Robert Glasper, Kendrick Lamar, et al. giving proper respect to Mr Coleman? Dont get me wrong - no shade on those cats, and I love how they are growing the form - they are fantastic - but there would be no To Pimp A butterfly - no Black Radio - without Def Trance Beat, or Tao Of Mad Phat. The first time I heard Flint - I was forever changed as an artist - and a human. Much respect.

[@mbaseconcepts]

I don’t believe that these people that you mentioned are doing the same thing. I feel that Lamar in particular, from a purely musical perspective, is much closer to the popular music world. His music is more about the social commentary, rather then reshaping the musical language used to support that commentary. But this is only my perspective. Glasper, being that he is an instrumentalist, is closer in some ways. But I believe that he is emphasizing different things musically. It’s difficult to talk about music in words, but much of my focus is on using music and musical structure much in the way that we use gesture, symbols and spoken language - as symbols to express ideas. Sure, we are all doing this to an extent, but I don’t mind (in fact I prefer) to bend and mode the musical shapes (sometimes drastically) in the pursuit of expressing any ideas. I’m definitely not concerned with creating popular music, in the hit making sense. What has always interested me is the shape and process (movement) of the musical language itself, and the ideas (increasing more esoteric, but I always leaned in that direction) that the moving musical shapes are communicating.

[@alecgross12]

Diane Ellis?? Like the same Diane Ellis that’s still playing today?

[@mbaseconcepts]

Alec Gross Yep!

[@jeffdawson2786]

Lured away from the violin by a girl. Lucky for us.

[@monsterjazzlicks]

Watching this makes me realize how much I detest Wynton Marsalis!

[@mbaseconcepts]

Why? I don’t understand. What does this have to do with liking or not liking Wynton? He is an exceptional and excellent musician.

[@monsterjazzlicks]

@@mbaseconcepts Wynton is actually mentioned in this video - in a manner which is very complimentary to yourself! 😁