Steve Coleman & Five Elements

“Perpetually churning rhythms, telepathic detours, unexpected juxtapositions... intricately complex and fundamentally accessible at the same time.” — All About Jazz

Visionary saxophonist 

American saxophonist Steve Coleman is a pioneer of rhythmic freedom and collective intuition. With his regular group Five Elements, he creates music that is constantly in motion: polyrhythmic, layered, but always full of groove. On the recent double album PolyTropos / Of Many Turns (PI Recordings, 2024), a living organism of sound unfolds, built up from spontaneous patterns and collective interaction.

Since the 1980s, Coleman has immersed himself in the worldviews of ancient cultures, with a particular fascination for ancient Egypt. Inspired by John Coltrane's spiritual and musical quest, he travelled the world – from Ghana and Senegal to India, Indonesia and Brazil – in search of the living connections between music, philosophy and rhythm.

Coleman and his musicians play in a semicircle, as in a drum circle, making their communication tangible. The music pulsates, turns, and changes direction unexpectedly: a fascinating interplay of intuition, rhythm and spirit.

For fans of Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer, Ambrose Akinmusire, M-Base Collective

Five Elements
Steve Coleman (alto saxophone), Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Rich Brown (electric bass), Sean Rickman (drums)