When Isaiah Collier came to Cologne Jazzweek for the first time in 2022 with The Chosen Few, the saxophonist, who was born in Chicago in 1998, was virtually unknown in Europe. But Collier took his audience in Cologne by storm and they were thrilled by the rousing playing of this young Chicagoan, who gave modern jazz a spiritual and emotional edge. Collier returns to Cologne in 2025 and has his album ‘Parallel Universe’ with him for his performance. On it, the young musician shows a new side to his work. The music Collier performs on it is certainly political, as it reflects the Afro-American diaspora, incorporates gospel and blues, funk, soul and hip-hop alongside jazz and is also open to Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Cuban music. Collier will be bringing soul singer Jimetta Rose to Cologne, as well as former Art Ensemble Of Chicago trumpeter Corey Wilkes, blues guitarist Michael Damani and members of his regular band Julian Davis Reid (piano), Micah Collier (bass) and James Russell Sims (drums).
Isaiah Collier – sax/voc
Jimetta Rose – voc
Sonny Dave – voc
Julian Reid – keys
Micah Collier – b
Corey Wilkes – trp
James Sims – dr
Michael Damani – gtr
