| Cipher Syntax | ||||
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| Studio album by Strata Institute | ||||
| Released | 1989 | |||
| Recorded | March–April 1988 | |||
| Studio | Systems Two, Brooklyn, New York | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 51:49 | |||
| Label | JMT JMT 834 425 | |||
| Producer | Greg Osby & Steve Coleman | |||
| Greg Osby chronology | ||||
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| Steve Coleman chronology | ||||
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Cipher Syntax is an album by Strata Institute, an M-Base group led by saxophonists Greg Osby and Steve Coleman, recorded in 1988 and released on the JMT label. [1]
The AllMusic review by Michael G. Nastos states, "An acquired taste, but still excellent". [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
All compositions by Steve Coleman except as indicated
The term "M-Base" is used in several ways. In the 1980s, a loose collective of young African American musicians including Steve Coleman, Graham Haynes, Cassandra Wilson, Geri Allen, Robin Eubanks, and Greg Osby emerged in Brooklyn with a brand new sound and specific ideas about creative expression. Using a term coined by Steve Coleman, they called these ideas "M-Base-concept" and critics have used this term to categorize this scene's music as a jazz style. But Coleman stressed "M-Base" doesn't denote a musical style but a way of thinking about creating music. Coleman also refuses the word "jazz" as a label for his music and the music tradition represented by musicians like John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, etc. However, the musicians of the M-Base movement, which also included dancers and poets, strived for common creative musical languages, so their early recordings show many similarities reflecting their common ideas, the experiences of working together, and their similar cultural background. To label this kind of music, jazz critics have established the word "M-Base" as a jazz style for lack of a better term, distorting its original meaning.
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