American Steve Coleman is not only a gifted reed player and composer, but also a teacher and theorist. He is, for example, designer and propagator of M-base music that is characterized by spontaneous composition (instead of improvisation) and heavy polyphonic grooves. A kind of math jazz that is remarkably accessible on Functional Arrhythmias. Coleman was inspired by the rhythms of bodies. This is
… illustrated by the funky dancing electric bass of Anthony Tidd and drummer Sean Rickman who plays dominantly and almost freely under and against. The way in which Coleman and trumpet player Jonathan Finlayson chase each other in solos and encounter each other in abstract themes, is sometimes reminiscent of namesake Ornette and Don Cherry at the time of their famous free jazz quartet. This is further enhanced by the absence of the piano while the role of guitarist Miles Okazaki remains modest. An equally complex and intense jazz album that makes any theory superfluous for the listener. (MR)more