Parallel Universe, by Isaiah Collier

Parallel Universe

by Isaiah Collier

supported by

Paul Ryan I love the album. Can you tell me when I will receive my vinyl? Favorite track: Eggun.

Saul "Village Song" is joyousness on a stick. Favorite track: Village Song.

majhium Interesting! I've just finished listening to the Infinite Monkey Cage... The AI episode. The key take away is that AI is not intelligent or creative. It will only ever mimic only what we truly know how to do. Be human. Good or bad!
Then I put this album on. The point absolutely is confirmed. Beautiful humans making beautiful music in a single pass. No error correction needed. A joyfully wonderful album. AI will never have the inspirational talent or joyful playfulness to make this true music! Favorite track: Village Song.

bertil It's wonderful that an artist chooses direct-cut recording. This is simply the most beautiful thing you can hear on an LP! Just wait a little longer and you can enjoy it at home as if you were there in the studio))

more...

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
2 x LP housed in a sleeve with a 12" x 12" booklet on the making of the record

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ships out within 3 days

edition of 2000 95 remaining

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Cassette + Digital Album
Cassette made using high quality RTM tape

Limited to 100 copies only

Includes unlimited streaming of Parallel Universe via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 3 days

edition of 100

Purchasable with gift card

£10 GBP or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
2 x 180g LPs with a 44 page photography booklet on the making of the record
Cassette made using high quality RTM tape

Cassette limited to 100 copies only

Includes unlimited streaming of Parallel Universe via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 3 days

Purchasable with gift card

£45 GBP or more

1.	Eggun 04:24	buy track
2.	Village Song 13:07
3.	Retreat 08:01 video	buy track
4.	Parallel Universe 10:07	buy track
5.	The Lean 08:02	buy track
6.	Never Back Down 07:40	buy track
7.	Open The Door 04:44	buy track
8.	The Last Song 10:49	buy track

about

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Isaiah Collier connects with the divine ancestors on a transcendent Direct-To-Disc session, Parallel Universe

Chicago-based innovator and educator Isaiah Collier is opening up new dimensions in the jazzwise continuum. A saxophonist by trade whose multi-instrumental talents and compositional prowess have stretched the limits of the form, Parallel Universe represents a new chapter in Collier’s musical journey.

Having already performed with a diverse range of musicians such as Chance The Rapper, Waddada Leo Smith, Chicago jazz royalty Angel Bat Dawid and his own band The Chosen Few, Collier’s latest work as a bandleader explores the shared musical heritage of the African diaspora with a sense of grace and assurance that belies his years.

Embracing the risk and vulnerability that comes with the live process, Collier and his band tapped into the frequencies of improvisation that fired up so many of the most timeless jazz recordings. “Recording direct-to-disc gave me a really fortunate opportunity to experience what our musical predecessors almost a hundred years ago were dealing with,” he explains.

Name-checking Sun Ra, Ras G, J Dilla, Fela Kuti, Miles Davis, Gil Scott-Heron, Whitney Huston, Aaliyah and Frankie Knuckles, the opening of track of Parallel Universe imagines a genreless musical lineage that resonates with the polyphony of stories his band bring to the table, from Chicago and beyond.

Featuring gospel soul singer Jimetta Rose, AACM and former Art Ensemble of Chicago trumpet player Corey Wilkes, blues-rooted guitarist Michael Damani, regular collaborators Julian Davis Reid, James Russell Sims and Micah Collier, the 8-track album bristles with a sense of love and understanding between players at the top of their game.

Nowhere is this more evident than on the album’s 13-minute centrepiece, ‘Village Song’, in which Collier evokes the spiritual, psychological and emotional home of the African diaspora in song. “I want to speak to everybody of the African diaspora, truly in its entirety,” he explains, “from all the way of being back in the motherland, to the new lands we’ve come to.”

Rooted in the percussion of Sonny Daze and the kalimba of Radius, ‘Village Song’ is a joyous and affirmative celebration of that unity. Picking up the flute, Collier explains, was also a part of that narrative: “The saxophone was not made in Africa so the concept of going back into the village we have to go back to our village instruments and dialect.”

With vocals sung in Yoruba - inspired by a gift from legendary saxophonist Kenny Garrett - ‘Village Song’ soars between rhythms and references, from Afro-Cuban syncopation to the deep triplet swing of mid-‘60s Coltrane. Laying the foundations for the album as a whole,
the result is truly exhilarating,

“Give me that feeling that makes me feel like I’m alive,” Collier enthuses. “People can tell when you’re taking chances. I know that’s what everybody is looking for.”

credits

released November 24, 2023

Saxophone, Flute, Vocals, Keys
Isaiah Collier

Vocals
Jimetta Rose

Keys
Julian Reid

Bass
Micah Collier

Trumpet
Corey Wilkes

Drums
James Russell Sims

Guitar
Michael Damani

Kalimba
Ra

Additional Vocals
Sonny Daze

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Martijn Schouten

Cut by Patrick De Looper at Artone Studio

Produced by Sonny Daze

Executive Producers
George Camdonius & Neal Birnie

Photography by Londonmancer

Sleeve Design by Kai Damian Matthiesen

Special thanks to Brisa Chander, Alex Birnie, Cecilee Von Rhea, and everyone at Artone Studio and Record Industry.

Pressed and manufactured at Record Industry

Recorded at Artone Studio on Thursday 9th & Friday 10th March 2023

© Night Dreamer 2023

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about

Isaiah Collier Chicago, Illinois

Chicago-based innovator, multi-instrumentalist and composer Isaiah Collier is opening up new dimensions in the jazzwise continuum. Having already performed with a diverse range of musicians such as Chance The Rapper, Waddada Leo Smith, Chicago jazz royalty Angel Bat Dawid and his own band The Chosen Few, Collier’s work as a bandleader belies his years. ... more

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