ALBUM REVIEWS

STEVE COLEMAN AND FIVE ELEMENTS

“Curves of Life”

BMG/RCA Victor

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“Curves of Life,” recorded last year at the Hot Brass Club in Paris, is saxophonist and M-Base leader Coleman’s first live CD with the hip-hop-flavored combo Five Elements. Some of the seven pieces have been heard on previous albums. But in live performance, they gain additional heat and immediacy as Coleman’s alto cuts sharp angles and jagged emotion from the simplest bass lines and direct, shuffle-funk rhythms.

Deep grooves from bassist Reggie Washington and snappy rhythms from drummer Gene Lake make for frameworks that by themselves are only of passing interest. But dressed with Andy Milne’s shifting piano lines and Coleman’s etched phrases, they become mirrors that reflect the tension and frustration of contemporary life.

The 15-minute version of “Multiplicity of Approaches (The African Way of Knowing)” serves to show that the saxophonist can go the distance as he works up a continuous supply of fresh ideas that never go sour. Minor-key numbers (“Country Bama”) carry sinister, twisted moods. The beat-driven approach works well even when applied to the familiar strains of Thelonious Monk’s “ ‘Round Midnight.”

The disc’s only tedious moments come when rap lyrics are added. But these irritations are just a minor distraction from what otherwise is a strong argument for the modern relevancy of Coleman and his M-Base school.

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