Graham Collier Projects
On the evidence of this performance, the services of Graham Collier should be secured by just about every big band on the planet.
- John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald
While this outcome has yet to be achieved, there is a very partial list of those bands and colleges Graham has worked with, many on return visits, in Life, the Deep Background. These have recently included the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra and the NDR Big Band, as well as many major music colleges and schools.
Directing
Graham is available to present concerts of his music anywhere in the world. These can be given by his own specially organised groupings, by professional bands under his direction, or as part of an educational workshop in colleges and music schools. The programme can include a new composition commissioned for the occasion, or be made up of new versions of previously written work. Because of the methods used, these pieces come out differently each time, dependent on the particular band’s performance in a particular concert.
‘My work in jazz is as a composer/director and as an educator, and these are inextricably linked together. In each case, I use the individual voices of the musicians as improvisers, and the combination of those voices into textures, to create music which is only fully realised in performance. The methods used are designed to release the players’ own creativity, enabling musicians to open up their performing skills through group performance by their interaction with others.
‘As such, they have been used by all levels of performer, from beginners’ workshops through mixed ability groupings to fully professional performances. Whatever the level involved, the musicians must be able to suspend their belief in a figure who has total control. The performance is the result of a continuous three-way process between the composer/director, the musicians and the given material.
‘The philosophy involved in these ideas - that it is the individual who is important, and that combining a set of individuals can provoke an interesting result - is behind all my work.’
More can be read about these methods and Graham’s philosophy in his book Interaction, Opening up the Jazz Ensemble and in the material discussed in Writings.
Performing
Programmes recently presented have included well established shorter pieces such as ‘Under the Pier’, ‘Aberdeen Angus’, ‘Ryoanji’ and ‘The Hackney Five’ and complete performances or selected movements from some of the following suites.
Click the underlined blue titles below which will take you to the individual Recordings pages where you will find further details of each composition including an extract from the written music - what the musicians are presented with as the starting point - and an audio sample of one particular performance of that music. (In some cases more than one performance is demonstrated.)
NB This section will be added to gradually.
Bread & Circuses (Panem et Circenses), written for a proposed DVD project to illustrate my educational methods.
Charles River Fragments, commissioned by BBC Radio Three.
The Miró Tile,(from the Third Colour CD), first performed with the Big Band of the Music Hochschule, Bruckner Conservatorium, Linz, Austria.
Oxford Palms, (from the Bread & Circuses CD), first performed at the Oxford Contemporary Music Festival.
Shapes, Colours, Energy, (from the Third Colour CD), commissioned for first performance by The Banff Jazz Orchestra.
The Third Colour, commissioned by The London Jazz Festival for three performances by The Jazz Ensemble
Three Simple Pieces, (from the Third Colour CD), written as a celebration for Graham’s 60th birthday.
The Vonetta Factor, commissioned by Birmingham Jazz for first performance by Graham Collier’s Celebration Band.
Winter Oranges, commissioned by the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra.
Guiris, written at the request of The Commission Project to present jazz ideas to newcomers. First performed at Agdar Folk High School, southern Norway, which Graham visited annually from 1993 to 2003.
Commenting
‘Collier’s ideas are opening up new experiences for players in big bands and for listeners too.’
- Erik Moseholm, former Director of the Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Copenhagen, Denmark, which Graham visited annually for five years
‘His unique voice adds an important variety to current jazz ensemble music. Few will not be touched by his work.’
- Ned Corman, The Commission Project, Rochester, New York
‘Your visit last year did much to inspire… some of the final arrangements from the students used a lot of your ideas.’
- Jens ‘Chappe’ Jensen, Director of Jazz, Århus Conservatory, Denmark
‘Thank you very much for your inspirational workshop. It actually helped to fit the band together much better now, even for the ‘normal big band music like Basie or Thad Jones.’
- Volker Deglmann, a student on a workshop in Mannheim, Germany
‘Collier's methods included giving members of the band parameters within which to improvise behind soloists… Even the way the band was set up, with the tenor saxophones interspersed with some of the trumpets and trombones, seemed to aid flexibility and contribute to textural diversity. His compositions had an accommodating looseness to encourage adventurousness on the part of the players.’
- John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald
Publishing
Full scores of the pieces mentioned in Performing are available for a small fee. They will come with Performance notes and parts for Concert, Bb, Eb and Bass Clef instruments. Contact us by the link below.
Available from Advance Music are scores and parts of four saxophone quartets inspired by the paintings of Paul Klee. These are
Witches of the Earth
Submerged Landscape
Still Life with Dove
Bluebird Pumpkin
These pieces have been extensively performed in a programme entitled Klee and Kandinsky by the Swiss saxophone quartet Quadrosax, and can be heard on their website.