snobb Five years ago I noticed a (virtually unknown at a time) young American jazz artist playing a gig during a jazz fest in small provincial town in Samogitia, where every foreign artist was a real rarity. He sounded like the time machine transferred him there right from late 60s America, and it was quite unusual and interesting. This musician was sax player Isaiah Collier.

Now, after few albums released and lot of gigs played all around the globe, Isaiah is not a jazz world's "dark horse" anymore. His just released album "The Almighty" is obviously noticed by media and listeners. What Isaiah offers on his new release is in fact a continuation of his earliest work. Emotively colored, richly arranged spiritual jazz, more precisely - a jazz suite, is performed by Collier quartet with help of whole small orchestra on some pieces.

Album's music sounds exactly as one can expect from Collier - strongly influenced by Pharoah Sanders/Alice Coltrane works from late 60s-early 70s, without even a traces of more current decades influences. To be precise, it is important to mention there is stronger attention on composition in this album's music.

Just five longish songs, lasting more that one hour all are tuneful, soulful and well played and arranged. Depending on listener's taste, one can enjoy almost authentically re-vitalized sound and atmosphere of half-a-century old spiritual jazz, or miss some nowadays music elements in it. Same way, for some all album can sound a bit pathetic and bombastic, but then it fits well under late 60s genre standards.

All in all, it's an interesting work of a rising artist who continues going his own way.