Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner - Non Classical A new musical tidal wave - Jacob Collier

Jacob Collier is now officially on my short list of favorite musical luminaries. My Holy Trinity has become my Holy Quora (to include a fourth musical entity). Previously my Holy Trinity included Ellingtonia (the whole organization including Billy Strayhornj) , The Beatles, and Keith Jarrett's 70's quartets (both American and European).

I've previously shared some YouTube performances/recordings by Jacob before on some forums. Some said that they didn't hear anything special in his music. I see this response as a sign of musical ignorance (no offense intended to anyone). Both his level of craftsmanship and level of inventiveness continually amaze me.

I'm sharing his 20 minute concert on the NPR TIny Desk series. He's in the process of releasing 4 CD volumes under the title "Djesse". The first two songs (of three) in this concert are from volume 2. I've signed up for email notification from Amazon when it is available.

And I find it totally delightful that Jacob is so open and obviously having fun. As much as I love K. Jarrett's musical creation, his public behavior over the years has often been deplorable.

Thanks so much for sharing😊. I, too, am a huge Jacob C fan: not only is his hugely talented. It is wonderful to see the passion he has regarding music. I’m looking forward to seeing how he evolves through the years to come

I agree, Jacob is the musical Einstein on the planet right now. Off the charts, he is the next huge creative genius on the scene.

This NPR session was encouraging. I say that because I saw Jacob Collier as an opening act (for Snarky Puppy) and what he did was impressive but not musical. He did a one-person show where he taped loops and one by one played each instrument. It was impressive, of course, but did little more than create a nice groove. The only truly musical moment of the evening was when he came on stage and played a tune with Snarky Puppy.

This NPR tape, however, is a very creative and musical endeavor, and reflects a completely unique style.

I still worry about young phenoms who never go the sideman route. Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett all put in time with other great musicians. I'm hoping Collier can fully develop his potential by leading his own groups and putting out his own albums right from the get go.

Another fan here. This guy also has perfect pitch so utterly refined he is actually a musical symphony orchestra in his mind. He can hear any run or harmony
and tell you exactly what notes, chords etc.. Lots on you tube.

I can understand younger musicians playing with an established, well known leader to get some career traction. Jacob toured around as a solo act and released what seems like a ton of stuff on YouTube. He's established a name and reputation. He's won 2 Grammys at age 24. I'm having difficulty thinking of who he'd play with to learn from. He's a fully formed master musician with otherworldly creativity. His arrangements are stunning. He is in his own musical universe. We can all learn a lot from him.

Dave:

I don't mean to be the skeptic. He's clearly got an other worldly level of talent.

But nothing I've heard yet has affected me the way Maiden Voyage (Herbie Hancock) or Now He Sings Now He Sobs (Chick Corea), or Speak No Evil (Wayne Shorter) does. I pick those out because they were early albums by masters when they were relatively young. But perhaps that's just a matter of taste.

I truly hope Collier puts out something at that level (for my taste).

I do know what you mean. For me Collier has fantastic skills, but something is not connecting on a hman scale. His voice is average, but well used. For me music hs to connect emotionally - Billy Holiday would be a clasic eample, if it does not do that, it becomes lift music. There is something about delivery, being in the moment, living a lyric, which is missing.

I think he’s great. There is a lot of originality in this young man and that’s hard to come by these days.

So some don't quite fancy him because he doesn't sound like certain circa 1960 Blue Note recordings. Check. So you prefer apples to oranges. This guy is a musical fruit salad. Transcending mere single fruithood (no, I'm not stoned). Jacob's 1st album in the "Djesse" series of 4 CD's is very orchestral and choral.

I don't like him because he doesn't play blues like Keith Jarrett used to in the 1970's (sarcasm).

This is from his 1st album in the series.
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (the video embed software is not working at the moment).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj27CMxIN28&list=PL9OTJcJX1Uqxy8UophXQJyUek0TYdY186&index=7

He's not as jazz guy, clearly. He'll be whatever he'll be, hopefully he'll not wanna be a pop star, but who knows. I can diggit at the level of beauty at the moment.

my left brain side dont like him (really I love it)

This video happened to come up. It's about microtonal tuning in Jacob's arrangements. It is very nuts and bolts. It starts with about a 2 1/2 minute explanation of equal temperament and just intonation. I have only a loose grasp on these things. But he points out how Jacob supposedly (I'm having to take his word at this point) varies certain notes in a chord voicing by just a few "cents" from one occurance to another.

If this sounds confusing - me too. But I need to watch it several times.

I have visions (hearsions ?) of Jacob doing soundtracks for Tim Burton or the Coen Brothers. Some of the most mind popping music to go with the most mind popping movie those brains can come up with.

Dave
I am fascinated and awestruck how Jacob uses microtonal tuning in his compositions.... like you, I only have a rudimentary understanding but am awed, nevertheless, at the dexterity of his manipulations so subtly done

Jacob can definitely hang with the jazz guys …


I am digging that modulation to G half sharp he does, my brain exploded when I heard that …

My favourite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X8vyeZgVVQ

I have sung his praises on here before, must admit I prefer it when he does this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Collier

I think Jacob is some sort of creation of a perfect storm - nurture and nature. I googled his Wikipedia article. He was born in 1995. His mother is a violinist, teacher and conductor at Royal Academy of Music. His grandfather also taught at the RAM and performed with orchestras around the world. Jacob said that as a family they sang Bach chorales together for fun.

The article also says that in 2004 he sang small roles in Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and Benjamin Britten's "The Turn of the Screw". In 2004 Jacob was 9 years old. He said that Britten heavily influenced his understanding and usage of harmony. He's quoted as saying "my mind was shattered outward".

It also said he studied jazz piano at the Royal Academy of Music.

I have visions of Jacob crawling around in diapers and sitting on his mum's lap while she was playing her violin. And many other similar early childhood experiences. He said, in an interview I saw on YT, that his mother's approach to his early musical exposure was to give him a wide variety of recordings to listen to - Britten, Bobby McFerrin, Stevie Wonder, Bartok and so on. No conventional piano lessons with conventional practice. But many many musical experiences.

He has two younger sisters who grew up in this environment. And with similar experiences.

Now THAT explains it!