SYNOVIAL JOINTS

This one really impressive, a compliment hard to make given the range and scope of all of Steve's work. This still meets the bar set by, and goes a bit beyond, his previous work in many ways.The arrangements for such a multi-faceted line up really shines. Steve's compositional talent is on full display, along with his own, and all other's that were involved, instrumental prowess. The cats can play! Engaging and still explorative after all these years, this disc gets my vote as 2015 best jazz release of the year. Quite well recorded to boot. Not merely an intellectual excursion by far, amidst all of the layers that continue to unfold after multiple listenings, virtually all of this still swings and feels great to just listen to if you like your jazz apart from radio-friendly "light" jazz.Utterly engaging. Nutritious music for the mind, soul and body.

Steve Coleman one of the most important American musicians of the last 30 years. I know I'm not alone in realizing this. I followed him years ago when he was developing the M-Base style of composition which incorporated a funk sound with poly-rhythmic beats; this may be an oversimplification because he pulls in a lot influences in a creative and intelligent way. Moving forward a couple of decades or so and he puts out "Synovial Joints". Better critics than me use the words "collective improvisation" to define his current approach, which is not knew in jazz music. Just check out Ornette Coleman (no relation to Steve) and John Coltrane among others. What he does here is put a modern touch to this style and comes up with something totally new. I am too lazy to dissect each track, but this album should be heard by those who like high art.

Steve developed his ideas on perpetual motion and groove a long time ago. They serve him well. This ia like a tour through his story but with more elements and man it is a lot of fun, had to smile several times at how wonderful the musicians are and how clever the arrangments are. 64 paths moved me and this recording does also. In its way beautiful. Relentless man Steve Coleman.

For one who was raised on 1950s and 60s contemporary jazz, this album is a bit jarring, but so is most of today's more creative jazz.

Normally I'm not a fan of large ensembles with strings, but this album is excellent. The compositions and arrangements are fantastic Steve Coleman does it again.

Phenomenal! Steve Coleman has done it again!

Yes, I was pleased.

what you would expect from a Coleman recording

Steve Coleman continue d'écrire l'histoire de la musique - sans classification - en renouvelant un genre qu'il a inventé et qui influence nombreux musiciens. Le concept orchestral proposé est le fruit d'un travail débuté à la fin des années 1990. L'enchevêtrement des sons et des rythmes débouche sur une musique cohérente, pleine de densité et d'émotions. Enregistré avec The Concil of Balance et une formation inhabituelle composée de 21 musiciens, Synovial Joints fait événement.

Whereas Steve Coleman’s previous release, Functional Arrhythmias, was inspired by the cardiovascular system, Synovial Joints looks to the bones, together with weather systems and African musical forms, using what Coleman, in the liner notes, terms “camouflage orchestration”. It features an ensemble of 21 musicians under the Council of Balance banner. The last Council of Balance project, Genesis, was an ambitious evocation of the beginning of the world, featuring many passages of deep, portentous sound. Synovial Joints is, by comparison, much lighter in tone. Thus Acupuncture Openings features some percussive vamping, but it is less explosive than that on Genesis. Celtic Cells opens with Coleman’s breathy alto, which after a few bars is joined by Jen Shyu’s voice, which is the only time we hear the vocalist who has previously dominated a number of entire CDs. The four parts of the title suite are the backbone of the piece, as it were. There’s some nice piano, an instrument which makes a welcome comeback after an overlong absence from recent Coleman recordings. The strings have a similar feel to those used on Genesis, providing extra texture and depth, and there’s a really excellent passage on trombone backed by the strings and piano. Tempest I expected to be more stormy than it is, though it has its moments. Harmattan, also inspired by the wind is classic Coleman, with its polyrhythmic percussion and ensemble brass, and the vamping more percussive. Mosaic similarly carries Coleman’s signature sound, with the brass underpinned by the piano. The collection rounds off with Eye Of Heru, a pyrotechnics-free piece which on a number of occasions seems to be fading into conclusion, only to revive, until the point where just as you expect it to happen again, it doesn’t, and it ends. As ever with a Steve Coleman release, listening is more exciting than writing. Like Functional Arrhythmias, this one will be played until the shine is wiped from the surface. Coleman is clearly going through changes, and although the general feel of his music is familiar, in specifics it is significantly moving away from the sounds to be found on even quite recent records such as The Mancy Of Sound (2011). Interesting times.

現代音楽寄りのJAZZと言う感じでしょうか。好みの問題ですが、とても良いです。

Steve Coleman es uno de los musicos de jazz mas innovadores de los últimos tres lustros, y posiblemente uno de los mas influyentes en las nuevas generaciones. Combinando matemáticas, geografía o alquimia, ha logrado modificar los timos internos de lo que hoy se considera jazz. Posiblemente el tiempo lo colocara a la altura de Ornette Coleman o del mismísimo John Coltrane. Pero filosofías aparte este Synovial Joints constituye toda una revolución en lo que hasta ahora era el jazz orquestado, o con orquesta. Después de este disco, seguramente su obra mas importante de cara al futuro logra algo que el denomina "Camuflage Orquestration", dicho de otra manera es jazz con orquesta pero esta se haya diluida en planos que emergen según el momento. Creanme totalmente fascinante. Nunca se habían hecho estos arreglos que como el dicen están camuflados en un contexto rítmico cambiante, A pesar de su complejidad es fácil de escuchar y sobre todo engancha. No es free jazz, es otra cosa. 17 músicos, de todos los estilos que crean ante nuestros atónito oídos algo diferente y vivo. Musicos afro-cubanos , clásicos o de jazz logran una sugestiva textura musical que sin duda tiene que influir en cualquier músico que a partir de ahora quiera hacer jazz con orquesta. Estamos ante un CD histórico, sin precedente y que marcara un antes y después. Sorprendente y excitante a la vez. Se que es difícil explicarlo, mejor que lo escuchen.

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