''Black Science'' is an album by saxophonist
Steve Coleman and his band Five Elements, recorded in 1990 and released on the
Novus
Novus ("new" in Latin) may refer to:
Companies
* Novus Biologicals, a biotech company based in Littleton, Colorado, US
* Novus Entertainment, a Canadian telecommunications company
* Novus International, an animal health and nutrition company
* Nov ...
label.
Reception
The ''
Austin American-Statesman'' wrote that "strong modern street music sensibilities infuse contemporary funk to create a sort of hip-hop jazz." The ''
Edmonton Journal'' determined that "the off-kilter drumming of Marvin 'Smitty' Smith and darting lines of Reggie Washington's electric bass set up a complicated maze for the snaking, urgent, unceasing curiosity of Coleman's alto sax."
The
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
review by Scott Yanow states: "Altoist Steve Coleman's CD is recommended as a good example of his music. The improvisations are dynamic, unpredictable, and quite original... Coleman, who wrote all but one of the originals, is the dominant force behind this often-disturbing but generally stimulating music".
[Yanow, S.]
AllMusic Review
accessed July 22, 2014
Track listing
''All compositions by Steve Coleman except as indicated''
# "The X Format" - 6:45
# "Twister" - 7:48
# "Turbulence" - 6:22
# "Beyond All We Know" - 4:10
# "A Vial of Calm" - 7:06
# "Black Phonemics" (David Gilmore, Steve Coleman) - 4:01
# "Ghost Town" (Dave Mills, Steve Coleman) - 6:56
# "Magneto" (James Weidman) - 2:52
# "Cross-Fade" - 3:07
# "Black Phonemics (Reprise)" - 1:50
Personnel
*
Steve Coleman - alto saxophone
*
James Weidman - piano, keyboards
*
David Gilmore
David Gilmore (born 5 February 1964) is an American jazz guitarist.
Gilmore studied at New York University with Joe Lovano and Jim McNeely. In 1987 he began working professionally with the M-Base Collective and Ronald Shannon Jackson. In the ...
- guitar
*
Reggie Washington - bass guitar
*
Marvin "Smitty" Smith
Marvin "Smitty" Smith (born June 24, 1961) is an American jazz drummer and composer.
Marvin Smith was born in Waukegan, Illinois, where his father, Marvin Sr., was a drummer. "Smitty" was exposed to music at a young age, receiving formal musica ...
- drums
*
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wi ...
- vocals (tracks 1, 4 & 5)
*
Dave Holland
David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His extensive discography r ...
- double bass (tracks 2, 4 & 5)
*Dave Mills - voice (track 7)
*
Najma Akhtar
Najma Akhtar also known as Najma (born 18 September 1962) is a British singer of Indian ancestry. She was born in Chelmsford, England.
She is noted for jazz modification of the traditional Urdu Indian ghazal (love songs and spiritual songs). ...
- vocals (track 7)
References
{{Authority control
Steve Coleman albums
1991 albums
Novus Records albums