I AM // Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few

I AM: “Beyond” // Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few: “Cosmic Transitions”

(US)

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier belongs to a new generation of Chicago musicians where the line between swinging and taking the music out has never been more irrelevant. Nurtured by music education initiatives led by AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) reedist Ernest Dawkins, Collier is surely making his mentor proud with the mounting acclaim he’s earned for “Cosmic Transitions”, the 2020 album he made with his quartet The Chosen Few. The album was recorded on John Coltrane’s birthday at Rudy Van Gelder Studio – where Trane cut many of his greatest albums – and was inspired by the saxophonist’s 1965 classic “A Love Supreme”. It opens with an extended meditation before ripping into the next four scalding movements, a fiery workout of modal themes that evinces the heat of early Pharoah Sanders as much as Coltrane. There are moments of repose, where the clarity of pianist Mike King’s post-McCoy Tyner splendor shines, but by and large the group puts pedal to the metal, playing with unrelenting intensity. The quartet, which includes bassist Jeremiah Hunt, recently stepped up its high octane attack with the addition of drummer James Russell Sims, an unflagging source of energy pushing Collier to new heights, unleashing a complexity that pushes the music toward the grandeur of Kamasi Washington. At their Jazzfest Berlin debut, Julian Davis Reid will fill in for Mike King on piano – and Collier and Sims will open the concert with a duo set echoing the vibe from the saxophonist’s project with drummer Michael Shekwoaga Ode, I AM.