8 Bold Souls

Perhaps it's because he stayed put in Chicago while so many of his AACM colleagues moved to New York, or maybe because he's a bit younger than his more well-known compatriots, but tenor saxophonist Edward Wilkerson Jr. has never gotten the exposure his talents deserve. In the '80s, when N.Y.C.-based saxophonist and bandleader David Murray was getting raves for his octet work, Wilkerson's 8 Bold Souls were making music every bit as profound. Indeed, Wilkerson's outfit outshone Murray's in many ways -- in terms of compositional rigor and ensemble precision 8 Bold Souls was far s...