Chicago Soul Jazz Collective

The name of this band tells you what you need to know about their purpose and history. Chicago, where Louis Armstrong moved to make his first records, is also the birthplace of gospel music, which gave rise to its secular
cousin, soul; and few cities grooved harder to the post-bop soul-jazz revolution of the 1950s and 60s than Chicago. Decades later, here comes the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective, co-led by saxophonist John Fournier and
trumpeter Marques Carroll, doubling down on this storied jazz idiom and hitting paydirt for a new century.
For their third album, On the Way to Be Free, they invite Dee Alexander to join in. The CSJC repertoire captures the early funk of such pioneers as Horace Silver and Cannonball Adderley, but also encompasses rhythm-and-blues, classic 60s soul, and even neo-soul. The original songs are imbued with the fight for freedom and a search for solace, in music that remains hopeful and uplifting.
The debut album, Soulophone (2018), covered vintage hits by Ramsey Lewis, Lee Morgan, and Jimmy Smith among others. The band followed that up in 2020 with It Takes a Spark to Start a Fire, a set of their own compositions featuring guest turns by Nicholas Payton and vocal star Raul Midon.
With On the Way to Be Free, the CSJC takes another giant step, showcasing the irresistible force named Dee Alexander on a program of top-notch compositions – an album that slots them firmly in the here and now without losing sight of their stylistic ancestry.