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Rhythm People (The Resurrection of Creative Black Civilization)
Studio album by
Steve Coleman
Released1990
Genre Jazz, funk [1]
Label Novus [2]
ProducerSteve Coleman
Steve Coleman chronology
Sine Die
(1988) 		Rhythm People (The Resurrection of Creative Black Civilization)
(1990) 		Black Science
(1991)

Rhythm People (The Resurrection of Creative Black Civilization) is an album by the American saxophonist Steve Coleman, released in 1990. [3] [4] He is credited with his band, the Five Elements. [5]

Production

Coleman wrote or cowrote all of Rhythm People (The Resurrection of Creative Black Civilization)'s songs. [6] David Gilmore played guitar on the album; Dave Holland played bass. [7] [8] Members of the M-Base music collective contributed, including Cassandra Wilson. [9] [10] Coleman rapped on "Dangerous". [11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [12]
Robert ChristgauA− [13]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music [14]
Los Angeles Times [15]

Robert Christgau deemed the album "almost true fusion," but praised the "secondhand funk" aspects. [13] The Chicago Tribune determined that "Coleman's alto sax is agile enough here; it just doesn't have any of the vitality of the [street] life with which it tries so hard to connect." [16] The Los Angeles Times admired "Robin Eubanks' fat trombone doubling Coleman's elongated alto sax melody through 'Neutral Zone', and the slippery, peek-a-boo performance of 'Ice Moves'." [15]

The St. Petersburg Times wrote: "Taking polyrhythmic cues from Africa, Coleman has derived a freewheeling funk beat that eschews taut 4/4 patterns." [17] The New York Times concluded that "though the record has copious amounts of improvisation and complicated rhythmic and harmonic movement masquerading as funk, it is basically an instrumental pop record of great complexity." [18]

AllMusic wrote that Coleman's "solo style (often relying heavily on whole-tone runs and unexpected interval jumps) is intriguing." [12]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Rhythm People" 
2."Blues Shifting" 
3."No Conscience" 
4."Neutral Zone" 
5."Ain't Goin' Out Like That" 
6."Step'n" 
7."Dangerous" 
8."Ice Moves" 
9."The Posse" 
10."Armageddon (Cold-Blood-Ed)" 

References

  1. ^ Simon, Jeff (August 17, 1990). "Steve Coleman and the Five Elements, Rhythm People (The Resurrection of Creative Black Civilization)". The Buffalo News. p. G30.
  2. ^ Chinen, Nate (July 23, 2019). "Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century". Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Heim, Chris (10 Aug 1990). "Novus Records, which started out four years ago...". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. S.
  4. ^ Ratliff, Ben (November 6, 2002). "The New York Times Essential Library: Jazz: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings". Macmillan – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Milkowski, Bill (Nov 1990). "Steve Coleman and Five Elements". DownBeat. 57 (11): 40.
  6. ^ Moody, Lois (1 June 1991). "Steve Coleman & Five Elements Rhythm People". Ottawa Citizen. p. G3.
  7. ^ "Jazz: New Sounds for a New Season". Emerge. 2 (2): 69. Nov 1990.
  8. ^ Miller, Mark (31 Dec 1990). "RHYTHM PEOPLE Steve Coleman & Five Elements". The Globe and Mail. p. C3.
  9. ^ Wells, Paul (19 Nov 1990). "Rhythm People cooks more than any previous album by the M-Base bunch...". The Gazette. Montreal. p. D7.
  10. ^ Himes, Geoffrey (20 Feb 1991). "At the Jazz-Funk Divide". The Washington Post. p. C7.
  11. ^ Kanzler, George (November 18, 1990). "RELEASES 'FUSE' WITH NEW RHYTHMS". News. The Star-Ledger.
  12. ^ a b "Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Rhythm People (The Resurrection of Creative Black Civilization) Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  13. ^ a b "Robert Christgau: CG: Steve Coleman and Five Elements". www.robertchristgau.com.
  14. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 2. MUZE. p. 475.
  15. ^ a b Snowden, Don (13 Jan 1991). "'Rhythm People'". Los Angeles Times. Calendar. p. 67.
  16. ^ Fuller, Jack (30 Sep 1990). "Recordings". Chicago Tribune. p. C1.
  17. ^ Snider, Eric (10 Oct 1990). "Steve Coleman and Five Elements Rhythm People (The Resurrection of Black Civilization)". St. Petersburg Times. p. D1.
  18. ^ Watrous, Peter (25 Nov 1990). "Two Musicians Who Defy the Boundaries of Jazz". The New York Times. p. A28.
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