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.

Graham Collier's radical new analysis of the place of the composer in jazz is nothing less than a complete reassessment of he direction in which the music is developing and a powerful argument for fresh thinking. He focuses on Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Gil Evans, among many other composers, and includes musical examples from his own work.

‘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.

See Contents for the Synopsis and chapter list.
And How Many Notes? my 11/3/09 blog posting at the end of the editing process.

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.

Buy from the Store, Northway Books, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com