the jazz composer, moving music off the paper
an important new book from jazz composer Graham Collier, published by Northway Books.
Dedicated to Herb Pomeroy (1930–2007), who influenced my music in a way that few others have done, teaching me that it is the musicians in front of you who are important, not the rules, or even the notes that you have written.
The endorsements:
‘an insightful, intelligent, creative and artful view . . . of jazz composition. It is written and developed for all interested listeners, the novice as well as the performer, and shows the way to the deepest artistic level.’
Justin DiCioccio, jazz educator.
‘Composers - take heed! . . . If you're confident in your compositional devices – take the challenge to have your foundations soundly rattled. If you're searching for a methodology to follow or guide you, it could well lie here.’
Mike Gibbs, jazz composer.
‘Collier . . . makes music that speaks directly, strongly personal but in no way self-dramatising . . . It's reassuring to learn that when he turns to prose, the same qualities are in place.’
Brian Morton, jazz critic.
Extracts from some press and web-site reviews (click on Reviews above to see more):
‘[A] mindstorm of a book.’ Chris Searle, The Morning Star
‘This is an important book.’ Doug Ramsey, Rifftides
‘On any short list of the most polemical writers in jazz today, he is fighting for the top spot.’
Ted Gioia, jazz.com
‘Rather than dwelling on the less than satisfactory, Collier wants to inspire more creativity … you’ll get a lot of stimulus from reading his words.’ Brian Priestley, Jazzwise, October 2009
‘May well infuriate as many readers as it delights, but compellingly readable as it is, it is unlikely to leave anyone indifferent.’
Chris Parker, Vortex Jazz Club, October 2009
Extracts from some readers’ comments (click on Comments above to see more):
‘A great addition to the literature on composition.’ George E. Lewis, Case Professor of American Music, Columbia University
‘Bloody marvelous, even though I wouldn’t agree with everything in it.’ Ray Comiskey, Irish Times jazz critic in a private email.
‘I have put the book on the set list of texts for the MA Composition (all genres).’ Professor Louise Gibbs, Leeds College of Music.
‘I really enjoyed your book as a reading experience. It’s conversational, affectionate, cantankerous, and clearly the work of a man who is denied the refuge of cynicism. And it's full of marvellous up-close writing about music.’ Fergus Barrowman, New Zealan, a reader previously unknown to me.
‘One of the best, if not the best, summations of what jazz and jazz composing are supposed to be.’
Jakko Tahkolahti, jazz critic and broadcaster, Finland
‘When I say composing, I use it in the Graham Collier sense (read his book!).’ Chris Kelsey, http://chriskelsey.com/blog/
See Contents for the Synopsis and chapter list.
The book is designed to be interactive with this website. The pages listed in the menu above are updated when necessary and in time there will be a page giving access to more information on the books and CDs mentioned.
Graham Collier, born in Tynemouth, England in 1937, is a highly regarded jazz composer, whose music has been compared to that of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Gil Evans. He was the first British graduate of the Berklee School of Music, and the first recipient of an Arts Council jazz bursary. He is the author of several previous books on jazz, and for 12 years was artistic director of the jazz course at the Royal Academy of Music. He currently lives in Greece, where he continues to compose, travelling from there to present concerts and workshops around the world. More on Graham at his website, or jazzcontinuum, his blog and collection of previous writings.
Northway Books are publishers of books on jazz and drama. These include Workout - the Music of Hank Mobley by Derek Ansell, The Little Giant - The Story of Johnny Griffin by Mike Hennessey, and a new edition of Ian Carr’s classic text Music Outside, Contemporary Jazz in Britain.
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