RNCM (Jun 17)

THE first big-name concert of this year's Manchester Jazz Festival saw Steve Coleman's 13-piece Council of Balance win an enthusiastic reception at the Royal Northern College of Music last night.

The reedsman, a founder member of the M-Base Collective, led an unusual line-up spiced by an oboe and a bassoon alongside a clarinet and a flute. But a more drastic departure was Coleman's preference for pieces that encouraged linear solos against contemporary rhythms.

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