Cosmic Transitions

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
DownBeat
Mojo

Joshua Myers of DownBeat praised the album in their review for its honor of jazz tradition.^[3] They also wrote, "From the downbeat, with a literal tolling of the bell, until the final note that finds Collier improvising, forcing the limits of his soprano saxophone, Cosmic Transitions is like the moments after an afternoon rainstorm."^[3] Mojo's Ben Thompson praised the performances of Mike King and Michael Shekwoaga Ode.^[5] Thompson also touched on the jazz tradition, writing "Cosmic Transitions’ greatest challenge was to feel and sound like a vital piece of collective self-expression rather than a carefully staged exercise in historical reconstruction."^[5]

Marcus J. Moore of Bandcamp Daily praised the album for how it pays homage to Coltrane and the studio, while asserting that it "stands well on its own."^[1] Moore writes, "It’s not only the best album in his short discography, it’s one of the most rewarding listens of the year so far."^[1] Leor Galil of the Chicago Reader called Collier a "vital force" in the Chicago jazz scene.^[4] Describing the album, Galil writes, "Collier guides his unit through passages tense and acerbic enough to throw every knobby detail into sharp relief, and he’s just as assured when he allows that agitation to dissolve into restrained and mellow complexity."^[4]

• On the Bandcamp release, tracks one and two, as well as tracks four and five are merged.
• On some versions of the release, the roman numerals are stylized with spaces between characters (e.g. "I V").