{"id":8441,"date":"2024-05-16T12:10:59","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T17:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=8441"},"modified":"2024-05-16T12:42:58","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T17:42:58","slug":"filter-isaiah-collier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/filter-isaiah-collier\/","title":{"rendered":"Filter: A Conversation with Isaiah Collier on \u2018The Almighty\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

John Coltrane once noted he would \u201clike to point out to people the divine in a musical language that transcends words\u2026 to speak to their souls.\u201d The idea is for an artist to produce art not to win acclaim or respond to a momentary issue in their life but to use their gifts to respond to an existentially higher power. Many artists – both before and after the tenor saxophonist – have pursued such lofty goals. But many observers seemingly misunderstand such efforts. Consider Apple Music\u2019s horrible description for its Spiritual Jazz Essentials playlist, which states without support, that  \u201c[spiritual jazz] faded in the \u201870s, but four decades later L.A.’s Kamasi Washington brought it back in response to a consumerist cultural landscape.\u201d As addressed in our conversation with saxophonist Isaiah Collier, the reality is that this existential yearning through music never ended. As shown on The Almighty<\/em> (Division 81, 2024), those appeals to a higher power through music continue to a younger generation, as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an era ruled by social media, twenty-five-year-old Collier is a breath of fresh air. His wisdom and perceptiveness belies his young age.  He makes compelling and creative music that seeks to say something more meaningful than express today\u2019s passing trends. His music is often seemingly removed from time, wholly modern yet enlightened by the tradition laid before it. Key to these aspects of his art is Collier’s perception of himself not as a creative innovator but merely as a filter through which music flows. That stream incorporates the heritage and culture of those who came before but is not bound to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These ties to tradition and culture were evident in Collier\u2019s immediately preceding record with his band, The Chosen Few, Cosmic Transitions<\/em> (Division 81, 2022). The album was deeply indebted to John Coltrane\u2019s late work – which is appropriate given the record\u2019s theme of learning from the ancestors – but Collier took these threads and weaved them into a tapestry wholly his own. He shows the continued relevancy of Coltrane’s work not by mimicking it but by showing the other directions in which it can go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A parallel can be found on The Almighty<\/em>\u2019s centerpiece tune, \u201cPerspective (Peace and Love)\u201d where calming flute, a repeated refrain of\u00a0\u201cPeace and Love\u201d, and African-originated percussion scream late 60s Pharaoh Sanders. But throughout the album, one can also hear the legacy of his native Chicago with hints of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) – of which Collier is a recent member, Sun Ra’s years in the city, and more. But again, these are all mere stops along a wider path.\u00a0Same\u00a0with the title\u00a0track’s\u00a0Third Stream hybridization of jazz and classical music through a large ensemble, The Celestials. Strings and piano create a cinematic landscape over which\u00a0Collier\u2019s\u00a0increasingly fervent and firey tenor preaches, burning its way through. The song vastly differs from the works of people like Gunther Schuller, even as it grows from the same roots.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Almighty<\/em> is a bold statement on the continued vibrancy, vitality, and necessity of spiritual musical expression. Cupertino’s reports of spiritual jazz’s demise have been highly exaggerated. The album also, though not its primary purpose, reflects Collier\u2019s role as one of the finest artists of his generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PostGenre: What inspired you to produce a work that explores the relationship between the Creator and people?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Isaiah Collier: I believe we try to designate things so differently than we would make them out to be. Everyone has a commonality with others. And through these commodities, we can unify and participate in the collective human experience. But without the basis and understanding of creation, it’s hard to create unity. It’s hard to create community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we’re aware of how the divine architect presents and shows how the flow of life comes together, hopefully, we take the example and apply it ourselves. In making this record, I had to sit down and reflect on my own relationship with the Creator. And this led me to explore how others experience their relationship with the Creator. As I did, I started to realize that while we don\u2019t all agree on these issues, we are all, more than likely, having the same conversation, just using different names. I realized that the Creator is the fulcrum that connects us all. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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