Podcast 911: A Conversation with Dee Alexander about the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective

The name of this band tells you what you need to know  - think of all the great post-bop soul-jazz sounds that came out of the 1950s and '60s, putting groove and feeling above analytics and theory.  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 allowing a new generation to dig the sound.  For their CSJC's third album, On the Way to Be Free, the group raises the ante by inviting Dee Alexander to join in. Chicago's grand dame of jazz vocals (as well as a syndicated radio broadcaster), the internationally acclaimed Ms. Alexander elevates every project she undertakes. She's a shape-shifter who ranges far and wide, from her groundbreaking work with Chicago's famed AACM, to her own strikingly original compositions, to her celebrations of the music's great divas, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and Billie Holiday (as on Alexander's guest appearance with the Metropolitan Jazz Octet on its 2019 album, It's Too Hot for Words). And as she proves here, she can sass and strut with the best. Just listen as she levitates the bandstand on the fiery protest/gospel tune "The Man Is Coming Back," and then she settles into the soulful ballad "So Alive" and drapes it in all the plummy finery it deserves. The CSJC is Keith Brooks II on drums; Larry Brown Jr. on guitar and vocals; Carroll on trumpet; Amr Fahmy on Rhodes electric piano, clavinet and organ;  Fournier on tenor sax; and Andrew Vogt on bass with guests Victor Garcia on percussion and Dan Leali on tambourine. They make music that moves your soul as well as your feet, bringing some much needed joy to the world today.  Podcast 911 is my conversation with Dee Alexander as we discuss her collaboration with the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective, her history with the AACM, and her participation in a project honoring Chicago legend Von Freeman. Musical selections from On the Way to Be Free include "The Man Is Coming Back."