Two valuable if obscure dates led by British bassist-composer
Graham Collier are issued for the first time on this double CD.
Collier leads a 12-piece jazz orchestra in 1968 that includes trumpeters
Kenny Wheeler and
Harry Beckett, baritonist
John Surman, and trombonist
Mike Gibbs as the biggest names, although some of the lesser-known players are also well featured. The music is adventurous and swinging in its own fashion, but also influenced by the avant-garde and looking towards the even freer British jazz of the 1970s. The second disc, "Live in Middleheim," is from 1975 and has
Collier leading a sextet that includes
Beckett and tenor saxophonist
Art Themen with a four-piece rhythm section. The use of electric piano and some of the grooves hint strongly at early fusion such as that being done by
Miles Davis circa 1969. Although this music has its moments of interest, it often rambles on too long, making the first disc (which has a wider variety of soloists) the more satisfying of the set.