Search - Graham Collier :: Workpoints

An interesting rediscovery...

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 06/04/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is, as the cover proclaims, a pair of rediscovered live sessions from "a golden age of British jazz": a 1968 12-piece band including John Surman, Kenny Wheeler, Mike Gibbs, Henry Lowther, Harry Beckett, &c, performing Collier's ambitious early score "Workpoints" (not previously available on a recording) plus "Deep Dark Blue Centre" & "The Barley Mow"; and a 1975 sextet (Beckett, Art Themen, Ed Speight, Roger Dean, Collier & John Webb) playing a number of other pieces, most of them again previously unavailable (though the longest & most impressive is "Darius", the title-suite from a 1974 album). Frankly, some of this is a bit dated--the freaky rock guitar solo on "Little Ben" in particular strikes me as very much of its time--but for the most part the music holds up well: these were great players in their prime, after all. Why 3 stars then? The godawful sound: it's poor but bearable on the 1968 date, but the 1975 concert is even worse, as it's afflicted with a range of problems that include distortion, some balance problems & a bad dropout. For dedicated fans of British jazz only--but if you can handle the crummy sound it's certainly worth hearing."