British Conversations

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Encompassing a range of moods and styles with a no-nonsense modernist tilt, this five-movement suite (Collier always worked best on a large canvas) draws some remarkable work from his soloists... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2022, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 29th Oct 2021
Catalogue No: MOD004CD
Label: My Only Desire
Length: 49 minutes

Presto Recommended New Release

1st November 2021
Jazzwise

Recommended Reissue/Archive

December 2021 - January 2022
Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2021

Reissues/Archive
BBC Music Magazine

January 2022

Jazz Choice

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Recommended New Release, Graham Collier, 'British Conversations'

1st November 2021

Commemorating 10 years since the British jazz composer, bassist and bandleader's passing, My Only Desire Records release his previously unheard 'British Conversations' suite, originally recorded in 1975.

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 Domnrus, Claes Rosendahl and Lennart berg, 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, 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.

Reviews

January 2022

Encompassing a range of moods and styles with a no-nonsense modernist tilt, this five-movement suite (Collier always worked best on a large canvas) draws some remarkable work from his soloists as it flows between energetic drive and abstract, almost capricious sections that nonetheless never lose sight of their own logic. Wonderful listening and an invaluable document.

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.

December 2021 - January 2022

Prior to this commission, all Collier’s recorded work had been with smaller ensembles and while the writing on occasion could sound like an expanded small group using fairly orthodox voicings and ensemble devices, there are also episodes of adventure that demand repeated listening.

1st November 2021

Props to the folks at Gearbox Records for this remaster - taken from the original master tapes - the amount of clarity they’ve managed to squeeze out of these almost 50-year-old tapes is really something. I’d say it’s a crime that this suite wasn’t released sooner, but at the very least it’s great to see it get the treatment it deserves.

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.

Excellent session...Beckett and Speight's solos are superb and enhance a finely written suite that showcases the riches of a UK-EU fraternity.

British Conversations

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Recommended New Release, Graham Collier, 'British Conversations'

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