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Formed in the mid-1980s in New York, Steve Coleman and Five Elements is an avant-garde jazz group led by saxophonist and composer Steve Coleman (born on September 20, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois). Picking up the saxophone when he was 14 years old, he studied the instrument while attending Chicago Musical College at Roosevelt University. Steve Coleman moved to New York in 1978 and played in various big bands including the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Sam Rivers’ Studio Rivbea Orchestra, Slide Hampton’s big band, and in Cecil Taylor’s big band. Steve Coleman became a popular studio sideman, working with Dave Holland, Cassandra Wilson, Bob Brookmeyer, Chico Freeman, Abbey Lincoln, Errol Parker, and many others. Steve Coleman continued to play local clubs, putting together a band that eventually became the Five Elements. The group’s original line-up included Marvin ‘Smitty’ Smith (drums), Geri Allen (synthesizer), Kevin Harris (bass), and Kelvyn Bell (guitar) with vocals provided by Cassandra Wilson. The first album credited to Steve Coleman and Five Elements was 1986’s On the Edge of Tomorrow. The group followed that release with 1987’s World Expansion (By the M-Base Neophyte), Sine Die (1987), and Rhythm People (The Resurrection of Creative Black Civilization) (1990). Steve Coleman continued to work with others as a sideman including Geri Allen, Cindy Blackman, Ravi Coltrane, Doug Hammond, the Roots, MC Solaar, and the Fleshtones. While Steve Coleman did release a few solo albums and collaborations, his main musical outlet was with Five Elements. Later albums in his catalog include The Mancy of Sound (2011), Functional Arrhythmias (2013), and 2018’s Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 1 (The Embedded Sets).
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