Where is jazz heading? Can an art form steeped in tradition once again excite the public's collective imagination? Few musical groups answer these essential questions as thrillingly as Matt Jorgensen + 451.

Matt Jorgensen is a drummer, composer and arranger who formed this band, 451, to combine intellectual and pop musical energies into a fever dream, a cry of our culture's impending future. After three critically hailed recordings and countless performances on both American coasts, Matt and 451 have it all together: their unique sound, the tumultuous yet precise outpourings, that interplay of mystery, romance and passion all mixed together in jazz unmoored from traditional conventions and clichés.

Like science fiction without words, 451 fills the mind with visions and vistas both beautiful and ominous. The music bristles with portent. This is jazz re-imagined for a new millennium, infused by the exultant energies of rock and shimmering vibrations of the far galaxies. It is an artistry of questions and quests, raised to the highest plane in the ecstasy of unleashed musical invention.

One of the first jazz groups to re-introduce fender rhodes piano as a leading voice, 451 features an unusual combination of instruments - that by now have come to sound utterly organic. With music and musicians committed to something more than the accumulation of brilliant solos, electronics interweave perfectly with saxophones, bass and drums. 451 is made up of players who hold nothing back, who rock out in high-octane group virtuosity. Their fury and joy are palpable, but ever focused. With worlds of sound to explore, they dare to firmly control the maelstrom they create.

Given music so pictorial in essence, it is little wonder that 451's explorations have recently expanded to include multi-media events. At venues like Seattle's EMP Sky Church, grandly abstract videos deepen the rich layering of their exhilarating intimations. So along the way, remember these names: Drummer Matt Jorgensen, bassist Phil Sparks, keyboards marvel Ryan Burns, with Mark Taylor and Rob Davis on saxophones. For they are on a journey toward what's next in musical history.