The finest album of one of the finest British composers
today.
Jazz
Forum (1974)
Darius Part One, featuring Harry Beckett and
DerekWadsworth.
Derek
Wadsworth (1939–2008)
News came in
December 2008 about the passing of Derek. He was perhaps
better known for his work as composer for Gerry
Anderson’s Space 1999, as well as appearances as
arranger and/or Musical Director with such as Judy Garland
and Dusty Springfield, but his jazz work was something
else. As Thom Jurek said in the All Music
Guide ‘The
second section [of the title track Darius]
features
one of the greatest 1970s trombone solos’.
Featuring
Harry Beckett
(trumpet and flugelhorn)
Derek Wadsworth (trombone)
Ed Speight (guitar)
Geoff Castle (electric piano)
John Webb (drums)
Graham Collier (bass)
Recording
History
Recorded at The
Cranfield Institute of Technology, Bedfordshire, March
1974.
First issued on LP by Mosaic, 1974
First issued on CD by Disconforme, 2001
Remastered and repackaged by
BGO records as part of a 2 CD compilation,
2009
Remastered
by Tom Leader of LCL Digital.
The
Tracks
Darius
A New Dawn
‘Graham
Collier is a working composer of [the same kind as Jelly
Roll, Duke and Mingus], a fact which is reflected in the
looseness of his pieces, the way they can veer off into new
and unexpected directions while still retaining an overall
identity. Collier calls it ‘giving his musicians room
to breathe’. They decide for themselves the way a
performance develops and how long it lasts while continuing
to use the motifs and scales and melodies which the
composer has supplied. The music on this record is a
notable example of the process in action; indeed it is
probably Collier’s finest LP so far.’
(Extracted from Charles Fox’s liner notes for the
original LP.)
Some
Reviews
Darius
typifies Collier's clarity and profundity and for my money
it is the best piece he has written ... the most
interesting and listenable of Britain's jazz composers.
Kevin
Henriques, The Financial
Times (1974)
A
fine example of Collier's ability to ply challenging
harmonic movement and simple melody.
Bill
Shoemaker, Jazz
Review (2001)
This
is easily the finest of Collier's early works; it breathes
and moves and changes shape, tone, and intent, and comes
off as a master work of balance between composition and
improvisation.
Thom Jurek,
All Music
Guide (2001), whose
comment on the title track appears in the subheading above.
Beckett and Wadsworth are two of the finest and most
individual brass-players of the time, and both are
magnificent on Darius itself.
The Penguin
Guide to Jazz on CD (2006)
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