While the enduring small group, Five Elements, has been a consistently effective vehicle for Steve Coleman's work for more than three decades, his forays into orchestral music have been no less worthy of attention. This ambitious work, which deploys some 21 musicians (significantly, the Five Elements nucleus is retained) loosely recalls 1997's Genesis/The Opening Of The Way in terms of scale and conceptual magnitude, and could well prove to be something of a landmark in a voluminous discography. A subject as stimulating as the workings of the human body, from the respiratory to lymphatic system, is highly apposite for Coleman given the fact that his oeuvre has been largely based on the complexity of cycles and patterns of all manner. Yet it would be wrong to assume that invention in rhythm is his sole signe particulier. Coleman's ability to create melodies, winding and slanting if not slaloming on roads less traveled, is given full vent here, and on many occasions he vaguely references one of his essential role models, Sam Rivers, but the key difference is that there is a bold, often heady resonance of African and Afro-latin folklore in the arrangements. The result is trance music of enormous sophistication. Ultimately, Coleman is attempting to capture some of the gravitas of ‘the ancients’, of timeless song that leans much more to ritual than anything else. With the eponymous, absorbing four-movement suite as its centrepiece, this offering more than fulfills that mission statement.