Inspired by the interdisciplinary exchange between avant-garde music, painting, and photography, GRAY is pleased to host Isaiah Collier and The Chosen Few in conjunction with McArthur Binion and Jules Allen: Me and You. Introduced by the pioneering cornetist, composer, and conductor Lawrence Douglas “Butch” Morris, McArthur Binion and Jules Allen developed as artists amid the rich milieu of what Binion terms the “Second-generation Black avant-garde” of 70s and 80s New York city. In those heady days, listening to live improvisational jazz musicians like Jerome Cooper, Sonny Rollins, Henry Threadgill, Cecil Taylor and Julius Hemphill, Binion and Allen were likewise innovating and improvising within their mediums of painting and photography, combining formal rigor and visual clarity with deeply psychological and emotional content.

ABOUT ISAIAH COLLIER

Born and raised on Chicago’s Southside, multi-instrumentalist Isaiah Collier has been surrounded by music his entire life. Absorbing piano, saxophone, and voice from his family at a young age, Isaiah began performing with his siblings in small clubs and lounges throughout Chicago. Collier credits the guidance of Julian Champion on the saxophone and other mentors for helping him develop his technique and knowledge of music history, a critical aspect of his sound and passion for music. Collier’s sound and approach are drawn from the influences of master saxophonists including John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Gene Ammons, as well as his mentors Roscoe Mitchell and Ari Brown.

At only age 25, Collier has shared the stage both locally and internationally with musicians including Chance The Rapper, Lewis Nash, Waddada Leo Smith III, Antonio Hart, Junius Paul, James Carter, Rene Marie, Carl Allen, Paul Rogers, Bennie Maupin, Rudy Van Gelder, Angel Bat Dawid He has played at venues and festivals from notable places such as The Jazz Showcase, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, Lithuania Jazz Festival, The White House, Chicago Jazz Festival, New York Winter Jazz Festival, The Hyde Park Jazz Festivals, Sons D’hiver Festival (Paris), The Logan Center, Frankfurt Jazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Festival, The Harris Theatre, U.S Embassy in Paraguay, and many others. He is a former fellow of the prestigious Dave Brubeck Institute Stockton,Ca.

Collier is best known for his work with his group “Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few”. Their most recent project “The Unapologetic Negro” (2019) and their first release “Return of The Black Emperor” (2017). In addition to receiving a Five Star Review from Downbeat Magazine on his new project “Cosmic Transitions”, recorded at The Legendary Rudy Van Gelder’s Studio 2021), I AM Beyond 2022, Parallel Universe (2023).

Official Website

More events on this date

Tags: Chicago, GRAY Gallery, Isaiah Collier and The Chosen Few, Jazz Brunch, Jazz Brunch: Isaiah Collier and The Chosen Few, Jules Allen, McArthur Binion, McArthur Binion and Jules Allen, West Town