Saxophonist Isaiah Collier, the jazz visionary who last year presented to the Czech audience an album inspired by the music of John Coltrane with his band The Chosen Few, returns to Prague with a brand new project! I AM is a musical collaboration between multi-instrumentalist, composer, activist and educator Isaiah Collier on wind instruments and Michael Shekwoaga Ode on drums. Collier is a major figure in the contemporary Chicago scene, where a new generation of players is making its mark. He has made a name for himself on the live Chicago scene primarily as a saxophonist, whether in his own projects, as part of Angel Bat Dawid's Brotherhood, or alongside artists such as Chance The Rapper, Waddada Leo Smith III, Junius Paul, and many others.

Isaiah Collier started out in the church choir, playing piano and flute, and later discovered the saxophone thanks to his older brother. He graduated from ChiArts High School for the Arts in Chicago, then attended the Brubeck Institute in Stockton, CA for two years. Both of his parents were also musicians. On stage, he radiates intelligence and poise, and is known for the attention he pays to his bandmates’ solos. “With his vitality, Collier is reminiscent of a young Miles Davis when he toured with Charlie Parker at age 19,” says Chicago Jazz Magazine.

Collier and Ode’s new album, Beyond, was recorded on June 23, 2021 at the Chicago Recording Company. The sole focus of this album is to take the listener on a journey that is uncompromising to anything other than the desire to tap into the higher forces in the universe and deliver that message to the World.