MOSAICS - The Life and Works of Graham Collier
by Duncan Heining
Equinox Publishing
ISBN 978 1 78179 263 6
Duncan Heining deserves praise for taking on a book about Graham Collier. Collier, never the most charismatic figure in UK jazz, was in the shadows of Mike Westbrook, Mike Gibbs and Stan Tracey. Nevertheless, Heining incisively delineates the complexities of this important figure in UK Jazz who in Heining’s words ‘swam against the tide’.
Collier, Heining points out, always considered himself to be an outsider, always felt unappreciated. He was northern, working-class, homosexual, driven by an inferiority complex that fuelled his work.
A strong feature of the book is honesty. Heining is at times seemingly ambivalent about his subject; he sees clearly and enables us to see the flaws, insecurities and the virtues of Collier. Heining is not afraid to include negative comments on Collier’s music from both critics and musicians. Art Themen who worked a great deal with Collier makes quite plain that he preferred working with Stan Tracey. Stan Sulzmann also expresses some reservations.
One of Collier’s great achievements was his work in jazz education. He pioneered a jazz course at the Royal Academy of Music ensuring that jazz was taken seriously. All this was due to Collier’s drive, stubbornness and persistence. Heining is particularly clear on the differences between the routes open to aspiring jazz musicians. One route was to join NYJO, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra under Bill Ashton the other was to work with Collier. To oversimplify the difference, Ashton was the teacher imparting knowledge; Collier challenged and extended both himself and his pupils.
Collier had some claim to be in at the birth of Loose Tubes, although the extent of his involvement is disputed. Steve Berry of Loose Tubes is quoted as arguing that Collier’s contribution should be acknowledged. ‘It was due to Graham that it came about at all. He got money from the Arts Council to provide a forum for creative players who you wouldn't expect to turn up in NYJO. That was his premise and he was entirely right because to us NYJO represented precisely nothing we wanted to do.’
At the heart of the book is Collier’s music. Collier wanted to give his music some intellectual underpinning; his music was often based on literature, painting, sculpture or philosophy. Collier’s music was, Heining argues, perhaps more of a composer’s music than a musician’s music. Collier wrote for his musicians, for their sounds and personalities but however he often placed them into situations other than those in which they felt most comfortable.
All the music from the early ‘Deep Dark Blue Centre’ to the posthumously recorded ‘Luminosity’ is described and analysed. At various points in the book Heining compares Collier to Gil Evans, Mingus and particularly George Russell. Some musicians who took part in Collier’s music express reservations and then reveal that years later listening to it they can see depths that they never realised were there. Geoff Warren who played alto on Hoarded Dreams: ‘It seemed to me at the time to be over long and lacking form. When the CD was released I re-listened to it. I thought ‘this is fantastic’ it was just like a dream, going exactly the way a dream progresses from one episode to another, sort of sliding between one piece and another. I think it's brilliant now but, at the time, perhaps I was too young, too inexperienced’.
The variety of work that Collier produced, he hated to repeat himself, is remarkable. May be the book will inspire readers to go back to the music to re-appraise.
One chapter titled ‘The Jazz Hustler’ pays tributes to Collier’s skills at extracting money from a multiplicity of sources. Heining notes that Collier was extremely well organised: commissions were sought: there was work on adverts, radio work, lecturing, writing. At one stage Collier had a part time assistant to seek out work opportunities. Apparently, Collier kept a Miro reproduction on his desk as a reminder that he should do his own thing and be recognisable for that, rather than pursuing imitative work for commercial gain.
This is a very honest, very readable book, about a complex man. one of its incidental pleasures is that it gives a comprehensive picture of jazz in the second half of the last century in the UK.
Heining says that his purpose in writing the book: ‘is my hope that readers will come to an appreciation of Collier’s rightful place in jazz - as a composer, educator and theorist.’ Heining succeeds in his objective.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
by Duncan Heining
Equinox Publishing
ISBN 978 1 78179 263 6
Duncan Heining deserves praise for taking on a book about Graham Collier. Collier, never the most charismatic figure in UK jazz, was in the shadows of Mike Westbrook, Mike Gibbs and Stan Tracey. Nevertheless, Heining incisively delineates the complexities of this important figure in UK Jazz who in Heining’s words ‘swam against the tide’.
Collier, Heining points out, always considered himself to be an outsider, always felt unappreciated. He was northern, working-class, homosexual, driven by an inferiority complex that fuelled his work.
A strong feature of the book is honesty. Heining is at times seemingly ambivalent about his subject; he sees clearly and enables us to see the flaws, insecurities and the virtues of Collier. Heining is not afraid to include negative comments on Collier’s music from both critics and musicians. Art Themen who worked a great deal with Collier makes quite plain that he preferred working with Stan Tracey. Stan Sulzmann also expresses some reservations.
One of Collier’s great achievements was his work in jazz education. He pioneered a jazz course at the Royal Academy of Music ensuring that jazz was taken seriously. All this was due to Collier’s drive, stubbornness and persistence. Heining is particularly clear on the differences between the routes open to aspiring jazz musicians. One route was to join NYJO, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra under Bill Ashton the other was to work with Collier. To oversimplify the difference, Ashton was the teacher imparting knowledge; Collier challenged and extended both himself and his pupils.
Collier had some claim to be in at the birth of Loose Tubes, although the extent of his involvement is disputed. Steve Berry of Loose Tubes is quoted as arguing that Collier’s contribution should be acknowledged. ‘It was due to Graham that it came about at all. He got money from the Arts Council to provide a forum for creative players who you wouldn't expect to turn up in NYJO. That was his premise and he was entirely right because to us NYJO represented precisely nothing we wanted to do.’
At the heart of the book is Collier’s music. Collier wanted to give his music some intellectual underpinning; his music was often based on literature, painting, sculpture or philosophy. Collier’s music was, Heining argues, perhaps more of a composer’s music than a musician’s music. Collier wrote for his musicians, for their sounds and personalities but however he often placed them into situations other than those in which they felt most comfortable.
All the music from the early ‘Deep Dark Blue Centre’ to the posthumously recorded ‘Luminosity’ is described and analysed. At various points in the book Heining compares Collier to Gil Evans, Mingus and particularly George Russell. Some musicians who took part in Collier’s music express reservations and then reveal that years later listening to it they can see depths that they never realised were there. Geoff Warren who played alto on Hoarded Dreams: ‘It seemed to me at the time to be over long and lacking form. When the CD was released I re-listened to it. I thought ‘this is fantastic’ it was just like a dream, going exactly the way a dream progresses from one episode to another, sort of sliding between one piece and another. I think it's brilliant now but, at the time, perhaps I was too young, too inexperienced’.
The variety of work that Collier produced, he hated to repeat himself, is remarkable. May be the book will inspire readers to go back to the music to re-appraise.
One chapter titled ‘The Jazz Hustler’ pays tributes to Collier’s skills at extracting money from a multiplicity of sources. Heining notes that Collier was extremely well organised: commissions were sought: there was work on adverts, radio work, lecturing, writing. At one stage Collier had a part time assistant to seek out work opportunities. Apparently, Collier kept a Miro reproduction on his desk as a reminder that he should do his own thing and be recognisable for that, rather than pursuing imitative work for commercial gain.
This is a very honest, very readable book, about a complex man. one of its incidental pleasures is that it gives a comprehensive picture of jazz in the second half of the last century in the UK.
Heining says that his purpose in writing the book: ‘is my hope that readers will come to an appreciation of Collier’s rightful place in jazz - as a composer, educator and theorist.’ Heining succeeds in his objective.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
