Volume III of III: Chapters 4&5, Appendices
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Playing Outside: Excursions from the Tonality in Jazz Improvisation Volume III of III: Chapters4&5, Appendices by Tim Dean-Lewis Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music City University, London Department of Music November 2001 Chapter 4 Steve Coleman: "Symmetry" and "Sum" Systems in "Cross-Fade" (1991) Overview In examining "Cross-Fade", we will see that Steve Coleman. like John Coltrane and Robert Irving III, is a composer who uses a carefully devised (and seemingly unique) set of strategies to play outside the general key of the piece. In contrast with most other musicians, however, he has spoken and written in some detail (in interview and via his website) about these strategies: his 'Sum'' and "Symmetry" systems. We shall see that these systems involve the simultaneous enlargement of jazz theory in a modernist. quasi- atonal manner. alongside the careful choice of relevant material from within the jazz tradition that complies with these specific theories. Steve Coleman is an alto saxophonist, and a great early influence upon him (this due to the interest of his father) was Charlie Parker. Steve Coleman wrote out and practised many of Parker's solos. ' More recently, he has become renowned for a more pluralistic approach, leading a multiplicity of different groups which act as vehicles for his compositions. These groups often perform and record several projects alongside each other. each functioning as a focus for an area of compositional and improvisational interest. He calls the umbrella organisation for these groups "M-BASE". which was formed in 1982. 1Hrebeniak (199 1) p. 19 The BASE stands for Basic Array of Structured Extemporisation. We wanted it to grow and be big and that's why we called it Macro. thus M-BASE. `- Steve Coleman is typical of many contemporary jazz musicians in that he often promotes the African-American oral tradition over theory per se. For example, he has often made clear that his use of irregular time signatures is the natural result of melodies composed in a "non-western" manner, and not the result of a deliberate attempt to create knowingly strange metric templates.3 However, as we shall see, he has also taken great efforts to develop his own complex theoretical models that are often self-consciously mathematical in structure. As an inheritor of the freedoms fought for jazz (and society) in the 1960s, he clearly wishes to build upon (and thus be a part of the development of) the jazz tradition whilst maintaining links with its earliest forms and sources. Further, he does not wish to simply replicate jazz styles of the past and. as such. be seento act in a reactionary (i. e. what Giddins has called a "Neo-classical"') way. Thus. at the core of his approach is a desire to be flexible, to be open to new, but clearly structured. approaches: "For us [M-Base] this means expressing our experiences through music that uses improvisation and structure as two of its main ingredients. There is no limitation on the kind of structures or the type of improvisation, or the style of the One ideas in M-Base is through As music.. of the main growth creativity. we learn through our experiences then the music will change and grow to reflect that. The idea is not to develop some musical style and then play it forever. "' Allevne (1990) p. 19 See. for example. Coleman (1995a) p. 1 This debatewas well establishedat the time of the releaseof this CD: Giddins (1985) pp. x'-xv Coleman(1995a) p. 1 At times this pluralistic flexibility extends into a relativist philosophical approach: the is better than has here. ... concept of which style any other style no place Since the goal is the expression of culture and philosophy, there is no "better". ''6 Similarly. Steve Coleman's stated desire to develop new musical concepts continually is not about leaving anyone behind. *" In every interview that I've ever done and when I talked to anyone I made a point to tell them that I was not the leader of M-Base and that there was no leader. This made no difference to western thinking journalist who insisted that there was a leader, and normally it was written that I started (or was the leader of) M-Base. "' This collectivist nature of M-Base is discussed at length by Iyer (1996). who sees M- Base as an extension of the tradition of such groups as the Chicago AACM. Sun Ra (and his Arkestras) and the Black Artist's Group in St. Louis. Iyer, as a "newer member of the [M-Base] collective. ` confirms that M-Base represents an on-going development of creative methods.' Steve Coleman has said that I am only the catalyst and portal through which the energy that is holding this particular incarnation of creative relationships together is working. But other Coleman(1995a) p. 1 7DuMars (1995) p. 3 x Iyer (1995) p. 3 9 Iyer (1996) p. 7 individuals respond to these vibrations by opening themselves to these creative energies and this is what makes it a collective on this plane of existence."' Thus. he strives for equality in representation for styles. methods within the composition process and. further, for the members of the collectives. The journeys undertaken (composing, rehearsing, playing and improvising) are seen as plural and open to debate and interaction. Steve Coleman often uses language in the way in which Coltrane did in the 1960s. He has said that his goal is --to be on the path of creative expression...In other words, to be on the path is in itself success".I Further. Steve Coleman is interested in. and uses, computers in his work. Santoro describes a music computer group meeting in New York in 1988 at which Steve Coleman and Joe Ravo demonstrated their improvising computer system: "Terms fly around the room: Pythagoras' Golden Section, Svmmetr 1.the Fibonacci sequence,machine language. MIDI and SMPTE. "'- His philosophy and interests are at the heart of the two composition systems mentioned above that Steve Coleman uses and has publicly described: the "Symmetry- and "Sum' We systems. will see that these theories are universal in nature, based on symmetrical structures at the heart of the 12-note system. This ordered source for his music parallels Iyer (1996) p. 15 " lyer (1995) p. 1 (a) his desire for rationality and equality of representation at a stylistic and social level. (b) by extension. his self-enforced reduction in his status as leader and (c) his interest in and use of mathematics and modem music computer technology. "Symmetry" system: Alleyne (1990) and Hrebeniak (1991) With I first heard Steve Coleman's music, I immediately wondered what strategies he employs to structure his improvisations, which seem to spend as much time being "out" as "in", although most seem firmly based around various key centres. My interest in Steve Coleman's music was shared by (tenor saxophonist) Phil Veacock, who kindly showed me two articles based upon interviews that Coleman gave to Alleyne (1990) and Hrebeniak (1991). These interviews were published about the time of the release of the CD "Black Science", which includes the track '"Cross-Fade".13 In these two articles Steve Coleman describes in fairly general terms his approach to composing and performing during this period. However, he also describes a system, which he calls "Symmetry", thus: "Back in Chicago I used to practise outside, trying to develop a bigger sound. I had a big afro at that time and I used to wear this shit on my hair, this afro-sheen type stuff. They had these little yellow bees in Chicago, whenever you wore something sweet like perfume they would come and start fucking with you. At first it was just an irritant, but after a while I noticed that these bees had a funny way of moving in terms of their flight patterns. I'm talking out of order here, but I was an artist before I was a musician.. that these bees flew in funny .1 noticed patterns. When I look at birds flying, they fly straight. swooping up and down. 12Santoro (1994) p. 294 These bees were flying in a wiggly. hanging pattern. They were always moving, but it was in a very small area, sort of like gnats round a light. This motion intrigued me and I started thinking how come people don't play like that. People play in a very 'bird' type fashion, even Charlie Parker played like that. So I started thinking that if you could play ideas that had more to do with bee motion, rather than bird motion, then obviously you would sound different. It's a rhythmic thing and a melodic thing. When I got to New York, one day I woke up. maybe I had a dream, and the germ of the idea of how you could play like that hit me. I call it symmetry, which to this day some people think is bullshit. "14 "I've been working on Symmetry since 1978. There are a lot of chord structures considered symmetrical. For example, with the C augmented triad E is the focus, being equidistant from the G[#] and the C. You have to know you're intervals well to deal with these things. When playing I could pick a phrase and work in intervals, in equal sections around it. The focus for me is not the key centre - ifs almost like a gravity centre, or things orbiting the sun in the solar system. It really has to do with figuring out different ways of contracting and expanding away from centre-points in terms of composition, improvisation or rhythm.