Thurs. 10.Oktober

21:00 On The Edge Of Tomorrow

A Tribute to Steve Coleman & Five Elements
Fire Revisited Michael Erian & 4 Elements
Fad Layback Ursula Slavicek & 3 Elements
I`m going home Waltraud Köttler & 4 Elements
It is time Stefan Jungmair & 5 Elements
Methaphysical Phunction Frank Schwinn & 5 Elements
A More Perfect Union Stefan Aschböck & 4 Elements
Little One I'll Miss You Gerald Al Shami & 6 Elements
T-T-TIM Heinz Ditsch & 1 Element
Nine To Five Ludwig Bekic & 3 Elements
Stonebone Wolf Eiselsberg & 1 Element
Almost There Paul Urbanek & 2 Elements
Change The Guard Gerald Preinfalk & 5 Elements

Original Line Up: Steve Coleman: alto saxophone & vocals, Graham Haynes: trumpet, Cassandra Wilson: vocals, Geri Allen: synthesizer, Kevin Bruce Harris: bass, Marvin "Smitty" Smith percussion, drums, Mark Johnson: drums, percussion. Recorded January 1986 in Brooklyn, NY by JMT

Some day, he may be recognized as one of the most important integrationists of 1990s American jazz... Till now, however, Steve Coleman has rated largely as an anathema for all purists and a quandary for all those who are only interested in sax-supported hip hop.

Born in Chicago in 1956, alto saxophonist Coleman gained international stature in the band of bassist Dave Holland. There he adopted the volatility of Charlie Parker but steered the shocks and aesthetics of bebop in a direction that was new and refreshingly unorthodox, though also highly subject to intellect. However, with his band Five Elements, however, Steve Coleman made a decisive step in the direction of popular music, causing a rupture that expanded -- or cast doubt on -- the conventional conception of jazz. Although jazz had already opened up to popular music forms already in the early 70s, the primary goal of numerous musicians of the time was to incorporate the "white" rock music ideal into the jazz idiom. A long time elapsed before the impulse sparked by Miles Davis in his "On The Corner", actually resulted in "funk transformation".

Together with singer Cassandra Wilson, saxophonist Greg Osby and pianist Geri Allen, Coleman formed the nucleus of a musician collective called M-Base. In and of itself, their idea -- to find a new organization for the diverse stylistic forms in the zone between jazz and funk; to reinterpret the apparent opposites and make them flow into each other -- was not new. What made the music of the M-Base Collective so surprising was the impertinence with which the group attacked ideas and playing styles normally associated with the popular funk scene but which also lended themselves to bebop phrasing and translation into popular dance rhythms. Meanwhile, Coleman has made many attempts at incorporating all available popular Afro-American elements into his individual style. In fact, he never shies away from any type of music and this has helped him, in recent years, to develop into one of the leading proponents of polystilistic playing: Pleasantly unpredictable and open for anything. CH

Admission: AS 180.-
PORGY & BESS, SPIEGELGASSE 2, 1010 WIEN, TEL: 512 84 38