Graham Collier (21. Februar 1937 – 11. September 2011)
We are very sad to have to report that Graham Collier died suddenly last night in Greece. Graham was 75.
Graham Collier had a major influence on British jazz, being one of the first contemporary jazz composers to write extended works for a large ensemble, and one of the first jazz people to receive commissions and tours funded by the Arts Council. He also played an important role in the development of the Loose Tubes Big Band of the 1980s which came out a big band workshop that Graham ran at the time. He also established the Jazz Course at the Royal Academy of Music in London and and many of the key jazz musicians of the 2000s are graduates of that course.
Birmingham Jazz had a good relationship with Graham and commissioned him in 2004 to write an extended work entitled The Vonetta Factor that was premiered in Birmingham and also performed at the London Jazz Festival.
Tony
http://www.grahamcolliermusic.com/
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"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #158 – Piano Jazz 2024 - 19.12.2024 – 20:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba