Graham Collier – British Conversations
My Only Desire Records, MOD004 / MOD004CD
Released 2021 on limited edition 2-LP vinyl, CD + all digital platforms.
To commemorate the 10th year since the passing of esteemed British jazz composer, bassist and bandleader Graham Collier, My Only Desire Records presents this 1975 recording of his previously unreleased suite ‘British Conversations’.
The recording features lead soloists trumpeter Harry Beckett and guitarist Ed Speight, alongside The Swedish Radio Jazz Group – made up of the hottest players on the ’70s Scandi jazz scene – including saxophonists Arne Domnérus, Claes Rosendahl and Lennart Åberg, trumpeter Jan Allan, pianist Bengt Hallberg, guitarist Rune Gustafsson and drummer Egil Johansen. Collier steers the band through the five-part suite that encompasses beautifully composed melodies, driving jazz rock and as many extremes as the British weather that inspired its name.
Remastered from the original tapes by Caspar Sutton-Jones @ Gearbox Records, ‘British Conversations’ is available as a limited edition (500 units worldwide) 2LP set housed in a gatefold sleeve and ‘mini-LP’ gatefold CD and all digital formats, with sleeve notes by Graham Collier biographer Duncan Heining.
Graham Collier (1937 – 2011) was one of the most accomplished, popular and collectable British jazz artists during the Brit-jazz heyday of the ’60s and ’70s, with his career of musically challenging yet hugely rewarding albums spanning five decades. His early LPs ‘Deep Dark Blue Centre’ (Deram, 1967), ‘Down Another Road’ (Fontana, 1969) and ‘Darius’ (Mosaics, 1974,) are rightly considered classics of the era.
Released in co-operation with the Collier estate, we hope this wonderful record leads to many new people discovering and enjoying the music of Graham Collier.
Recorded live in concert February 27th 1975 at Kulturhuset, Stockholm
Composed and arranged by Graham Collier
Commissioned by Sveriges Radio
Personnel:
Graham Collier: conductor
Harry Beckett: trumpet, flugelhorn
Ed Speight: guitar
The Swedish Radio Jazz Group:
Arne Domnérus: alto saxophone, clarinet
Claes Rosendahl: tenor and alto saxophone, flute
Lennart Åberg: tenor and soprano saxophone, flute
Erik Nilsson: baritone saxophone
Americo Bellotto: trumpet, flugel horn
Bertil Lövgren: trumpet, flugel horn
Jan Allan: trumpet, alto horn
Håkan Nyquist: trumpet, flugel horn, French horn
Lars Olofsson: trombone
Sven Larsson: bass trombone, tuba
Rune Gustafsson: guitar
Bengt Hallberg: piano
Georg Riedel: double bass
Stefan Brolund: electric bass
Egil Johansen: drums
Press Quotes:
“Wonderful listening and an invaluable document.” – ★★★★★ BBC Music Magazine
“Like the British climate itself, it’s a work of constant evolution and change, moving from languid apprehensive ballads to stormy, propulsive guitar rock, deep pastoral melancholy, modal patterns of rich colour and heavy big-band prog.” – ★★★★ MOJO
“Excellent session…Beckett and Speight’s solos are superb and enhance a finely written suite that showcases the riches of a UK-EU fraternity.” – ★★★★ Echoes
“Red Sky In The Morning transitions from its foreboding Bernard Herrmann-esque opening into driving jazz rock. Halo Round The Sun is an upbeat and distinctly groovy affair while the reflective Mackerel Sky pairs big brass textures with brilliant guitar work by Ed Speight.” ★★★★ Record Collector
“Soloists fly free and the rhythm section impresses, but it’s the rhythmic thrust and panoramic sweep of Collier’s orchestrations that give the performance its elastic bounce. “Mackerel Sky” is the closer, a 13-minute up-tempo blast of energy ending on a high-note peak.” – ★★★★ Financial Times
“The Swedish Radio Orchestra, which included some of Sweden’s finest jazz musicians are pretty well faultless in their interpretation of Collier’s compositions, while Harry Beckett was eloquent and Ed Speight, attuned to Collier’s music, shines as both colourist and soloist.” – ★★★★ (Recommended) Jazzwise
“British Conversations is beautiful. It’s touching and tender. There’s a British noir aesthetic; a Geordie Gil Evans-Axelrod. It gets pretty damned heavy (special shout to Brolund on bass) but there’s always a deft sensitivity. It’s hip but focuses less on the material, less on the spectacle of hip and more on atmosphere and warm emotion.” – ★★★★ UK Vibe
“This is a remarkable album for many reasons: it has been hidden for so long and it shows aspects of Collier that are surprising: the sheer beauty of the playing, the nuanced fluidity of the writing. It should call for a reappraisal of Collier’s work.” – Jazz Views
“The quality is unequivocally excellent both compositionally and sonically.” – Jazz Journal
“The recording is studio quality and the sole indication this is a live recording is the applause heard at the end…British Conversations ends with “Mackerel Sky”, its most tense section. Ed Speight steps on his fuzz pedal and employs sustain, nudging himself towards Jeff Beck territory. The contrast between this and the bands ebbing, flowing, percussive rendering of a series of refrains adds to the tension.” – The Arts Desk
“It is the quality of Collier’s writing for the ensemble as a whole that is especially brilliant; the shifting tempi, the rich, multi-hued orchestral colouring and the sheer freedom allowed for improvising combine to produce music that is constantly imaginative and impressive, be it contemplative, swinging or funky. British Conversations is a reminder that Collier, whose music has been too often neglected since his death ten years ago, was a pioneering figure in the modernisation of British jazz, and a composer of rare ambition and enormous talent.” – Geoff Andrew