contents take time out to listen: introducing the jazz composer. Part One: Defining the Situation. 1 something borrowed, something new: repertoire. 2 jazz happens in real time, once: the performance. 3 well man, we just blow: improvising. 4 who does what when: arranging. Part Two: Showing the Way. 5 one plus one makes three: duke the compiler. 6 thinking of a better way: duke the composer. Part Three: Rediscovering the Potential. 7 why would we want to repeat it?: the jazz museum. 8 infinite possibilities: the revolutionary decade. 9 deepening the game amid the background hum: jazz as art. 10 it ain't who you are (it's the way that you do it): on not being an american. Part Four: Skinning the Cat. 11 no more blues?: reassessing the tradition. 12 don't be afraid: advanced arranging. 13 I hear a symphony: painting new pictures. 14 taking a chance: relinquishing control. Part Five: Directing 14 Jackson Pollocks. 15 rolled steel into gold: a basis for change. 16 'play a rat patrol sound': moving beyond the notes. 17 the final word: recognising the vibrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index.
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.
'the jazz composer is not a book of instruction. Indeed it's more a book of destruction. But what fun, how entertaining, and how welcome.' John Robert Brown in Jazz Journal, June 2009. '[A] mindstorm of a book. Collier's favourite maxim is that 'jazz happens in real time, once' - a truth that made me value even more preciously my record collection. - [H]is commentaries on pieces as short as Ellington's Harlem Airshaft or as long as Evans's and Miles Davis's Sketches of Spain or Mingus's The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, give you new listening experiences and understanding.' Chris Searle, The Morning Star, July 1 2009. 'The title reads like that of a textbook, but this evaluation of the art is accessible to any layman with ears. Contradicting conventional wisdom about some composers - he backs his positions with evidence and references and makes readers think hard about what they listen to. This is an important book.' Doug Ramsey, Rifftides Recommendations, July 20th, 2009. 'Collier's writing is refreshing, and his basic premise is both provocative and sound - Time and time again in this work, the author adopts a bold position and sticks by it - I enjoyed the book, but I think I would enjoy seeing Collier in a debate even more. On any short list of the most polemical writers in jazz today, he is fighting for the top spot.' Ted Gioia, jazz.com, July 24th, 2009
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