Some projects are misnomers. “The Story of 400 Years,” on the other hand, is exactly what its title promises. Saxophonist and composer Isaiah Collier created what can only be described as a choreo-musical epic on the African-American experience in the United States. From chattel slavery to the so-called War on Drugs and beyond, the evening-length suite progresses through decades and musical styles, referencing everything from Dixieland to disco. After its premiere at the 2019 Hyde Park Jazz Festival, “The Story of 400 Years” had another outing on Dec. 4 at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center. When we connect the following week, Collier admits he hasn’t even checked his phone for a few days. Performances of the suite take a lot out of him. Related Articles Music and Concerts | Chicagoans of the Year for Pop Music: From hit album to a Lollapalooza set, this is Friko’s year Music and Concerts | Chicagoans of the Year in Museums: Liesl Olson, Ross Jordan and Matthew Randle-Bent of Jane Addams Hull-House Music and Concerts | Chicagoan of the Year in Theater: Tim Rater leads Paramount Theatre in transforming Aurora’s downtown Music and Concerts | Chicagoan of the Year in Dance: Vershawn Sanders-Ward is still here, doing the thing Music and Concerts | Chicagoans of the Year in Books: Javier and Kristin Ramirez of Exile in Bookville are getting good energy back in volumes “It’s been good six and a half years of working on this. I gotta finish what I started,” Collier tells me. “It’s no longer the African-American narrative. This is the American story.” “400 Years” is one of several signs this year that the 26-year-old Collier is shrugging off the wunderkind label the jazz world has imprinted on him, once and for all. Certainly, his professional career — already more than a decade old at this point — is facing its first serious juncture. This year, Collier released “The World Is On Fire,” his last album with The Chosen Few, a quartet with fluctuating ranks that he’s kept up since he was 18. I AM, his duo with percussionist Michael Shekwoaga Ode, is also sunsetting, though a box set of their work together comes out next year. “Everybody’s cool, but at the same time, ‘cool’ is a frequency; ‘cool’ is a key center. And sometimes you’ve got to modulate,” Collier says. “At the end of the day, what we did is what we did. The history books are gonna reflect that.” As “400 Years” demonstrates, Collier thinks in lineages and long sweeps of history. His spring release, “The Almighty,” features saxophonist Ari Brown and singer Dee Alexander, both important mentors. “He’s a force to be reckoned with,” Brown says of his former student. “He’s always trying new things.” Isaiah Collier on Dec. 4, 2024, at the DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Collier, who grew up in Park Manor and Englewood, is the middle child of three boys. His younger brother Jeremiah is a prolific drummer around town; his older brother Irving’s early ventures on saxophone inspired Collier to pick up the horn in the first place. “I didn’t know any other instrument. I was like, ‘OK, cool, maybe you can help me out with this one,’” he remembers, chuckling. Like another Chicagoan of the Year on our list, Collier received his early musical education from the Salvation Army, which partners with local organizations to offer free education. Collier was a quick study. He picked up the saxophone at 11. By 12, he was gigging. Between recent sets at the Jazz Showcase, Collier showed me what he’s been working on lately: a new form of musical notation assigning a zodiac sign to all 12 pitches in the Western tonal system. He’s hoping to create a software for the method with the help of a Steve Jobs Archive Fellowship, awarded annually to “young creators working at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts.” (His cohort meets monthly on Zoom and convened in the San Francisco Bay Area in September; Collier showed me selfies of himself donning Darth Vader and Jango Fett helmets in the hallowed halls of Skywalker Sound.) Collier has even assembled a new band — a large-scale ensemble he calls the Celestials — as a vehicle for the system. Isaiah Collier performs on Dec. 4, 2024, at the DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) At one point, I ask Collier how he’d describe his 2024. He pauses — a pregnant, thoughtful silence — then says, “A tree in autumn.” A tree in autumn? “Well, autumn is a very beautiful time of the year, even though, ironically, that’s when the tree is shedding all its leaves. There’s a lot of rain; there’s a lot of turmoil. But those other leaves serve as nutrients for everything down below —new beginnings and new endings. “Only then do you see the true shape and the integrity of the tree.” Hannah Edgar is a freelance critic.