Trevor Coleman, a multi-instrumentalist, is well known in Dunedin jazz circles. He has been thrice nominated for Emmy Awards, composed more than 100 soundtracks for films, and will be missed in the city due to his move to Spain.
These three separate discs contain compositions based on "polycyclic design", which he defines as musicians each performing simultaneously on tempo cycles of varying lengths. Improvisation is perhaps made harder in this complex type of aim but it is meant to focus on the strength and awareness of the individual musician taking part.
The first disc, PolyKarma, features nine tracks of polycyclic chamber music, all with titles starting with Poly. Composer Coleman is on piano with Nick Cornish (saxes, oboe, cor anglais), and cellist Heleen Du Plessis, recorded in Dunedin.
PolyNation applies the polycyclic formula to jazz. It was recorded in New Zealand, Australia, Germany and Spain, with several participating musicians. The 12 items are prolific with Polys in titles, including PolyBrubeck, but also The Sound of Jazz and Stay With Me. Some of the sounds are dazzling.
The third album, politely called One Moment, breaks the poly-liferation (sorry!) being labelled as "World music", containing 10 Coleman compositions (lyrics by the composer and New Zealand singer Beta Bocek).
"World music" is hard to define, encompassing many styles from different parts of the globe (usually non-English or American), but many of these songs work well, with Coleman on keyboards, bass, percussion and production, and fewer cycles to convolute. It is the most approachable of the three CDs.
Verdict: Good explorations of theory for improvisations.
- Geoff Adams
