Passed over, again, for a MacArthur “genius” grant? Me, too. This guy, though, has reason—625,000 reasons—to celebrate.

Steve Coleman and Five Elements,* live, Switzerland (Cully Jazz Festival), 2013

Steve Coleman took up the alto saxophone when he was a freshman at South Shore High School and within a few years inevitably was drawn into the orbit of one of Chicago’s greatest jazzmen: Von Freeman.

It was Freeman, a tenor saxophone giant who died two years ago at age 88, who welcomed Coleman into the rigors of the jazz life, setting him on a course that has led to Coleman winning one of America’s most prestigious and lucrative arts awards, a MacArthur Fellowship. Like each recipient, Coleman will receive a total of $625,000, dispensed quarterly over the next five years, from the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

“I realized that (Freeman) is a major player, and he’s right here…