Recorded live in performance at the renowned Village Vanguard in New York City, "Mdw Ntr," finds MacArthur Fellow Steve Coleman exploring new terrain in his use of non-linear performance practices in his music. Featuring his long-running flagship ensemble Five Elements, he utilizes spontaneous and pre-composed modules, or motivic cells that can be played in any order, allowing each musicians to spontaneously jump forward or backward to different sections – even between compositions – highlighting different strata of the music and reinventing the form each time in a completely interactive way. Coleman often composes these modules by envisioning them as chains of tonal dyads that are strung together along rhythmic patterns to create melodic structures, something he sees as an analogue of DNA sequences.
- Steve Coleman (alto saxophone)
- Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet)
- Kokayi (wordsmith)
- Anthony Tidd (bass)
- Sean Rickman (drums)
1. Menes to Midas 12:29
2. Unit Fractions 16:15
3. Little Girl I'll Miss You 09:34
4. Compassion (drum solo) - Ascending Numeration - DeAhBo (Reset) 16:14
5. Pad Thai-Mdw Ntr 14:33
6. 9 to 5 09:36
7. Mdw Ntr 08:42
8. Rumble Young Man, Rumble 08:52
9. Khet & KaBa 07:38
10.DeAhBo (Reset) 08:04
11.9 to 5 - Mdw Ntr 21:33
