Collin Walcott (April 24, 1945 – November 8, 1984) was an American musician who worked in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

and world music.

Early life

Walcott was born in New York City, United States. He studied violin and

tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

in his youth, and was a percussion student at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

. After graduating in 1966, he went to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, and studied

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form i ...

under

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

and

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

under

Alla Rakha Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi (29 April 1919 – 3 February 2000), popularly known as Alla Rakha, was an Indian tabla player who specialized in Hindustani classical music. He was a frequent accompanist of sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar and was ...

Later life and career

According to critic

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles a ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, Walcott was "one of the first sitar players to play jazz". Walcott moved to New York and played "a blend of bop and oriental music with

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as ''Top Gun'' (1986), ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''Day ...

" in 1967–69. Around 1970 he joined the

Paul Winter Consort The Paul Winter Consort is an American musical group. Bassist Eliot Wadopian has been a member. Discography Films *''Canyon Consort'' (1985) References External linksLiving Music- Paul Winter's record label {{Authority control American j ...

and co-founded the band

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

. These groups, along with the trio

Codona Codona was a free jazz and world fusion group which released three self-titled albums on the ECM label in 1979, 1981 and 1983. The trio consisted of multi-instrumentalists Don Cherry, Collin Walcott, and Nana Vasconcelos. The name of the group was ...

, which was founded in 1978, combined "jazz improvisation and instrumentation with elements of a wide range of classical and ethnic music". Walcott also played on the

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

1972 album ''

On the Corner ''On the Corner'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Miles Davis. It was recorded in June and July 1972 and released on October 11 of the same year by Columbia Records. The album continued Davis's exploration o ...

'', had three releases under his own name on

ECM Records ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's ...

, and taught at the

Naropa Institute Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named for the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university describes itself as ...

in Boulder, Colorado. Walcott was killed in a bus crash in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...

, East Germany, on November 8, 1984, while on a tour with Oregon. Author

David James Duncan David James Duncan (born 1952)
at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library,

...

wrote retrospectively in 1996 about an Oregon concert he attended in

Cascade Head Cascade Head is a headland and UNESCO biosphere reserve and United States Forest Service Experimental Forest. It is situated southwest of Portland, Oregon on the Oregon Coast between Lincoln City and Neskowin. Cascade Head Preserve is a Natur ...

in his piece "My One Conversation with Collin Walcott". Duncan described Walcott as sitting "buddha-style" on stage, surrounded by instruments. Along with an

electronic drum Electronic drums is a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sounds ...

kit "to his north", Walcott "had five different tablas to his south, a sitar to his east and a bewildering semicircle of rattles, chimes, clackers, bells, whistles, finger-drums, triangles and unnameable noisemakers to his west. He was the first Western 'jazz' percussionist I'd ever seen sit flat on the floor like an East Indian."

Discography

As leader

*''

Cloud Dance ''Cloud Dance'' is the debut album by American sitarist and composer Collin Walcott, released in 1975 on the ECM label.ECM ECM may refer to: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Elliptic curve method * European Congress of Mathematics ...

1062 *''

Grazing Dreams ''Grazing Dreams'' is the second album by American sitarist and composer Collin Walcott. It was recorded in 1977 and released on the ECM label later that year.

'' (1977) ECM 1096 *''

Dawn Dance ''Dawn Dance'' is an album by South African guitarist Steve Eliovson and American percussionist Collin Walcott. It was recorded in January 1981 at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, Germany, and was released later that year by ECM Records. Eliovson w ...

'' (1981) ECM 1198 (with Steve Eliovson) *''Works (compilation)'' (1988) ECM/Polygram 837 276

With
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

*''Our First Record'' CD (1970) Universe 42 *''Music of Another Present Era'' CD (1973) Vanguard VMD-79326 *''Winter Light'' CD (1974) Vanguard VMD 79350 *''Distant Hills'' CD (1974) Vanguard VMD-79341 *''In Concert'' CD (1975) Universe 25 *''Together (w/Elvin Jones)'' CD (1976) Universe 9 *''Friends'' CD (1977) Vanguard 79370-2 *''Out of the Woods'' CD (1978) Discovery 71004 *''Violin'' CD (1978) Universe 40 *''Moon and Mind'' CD (1979) Vanguard VMD 79419 *''Roots in the Sky'' CD (1979) Discovery 71005 *''In Performance'' CD (1980) Wounded Bird Records 304 *''

'' (ECM, 1983) *''

Crossing Crossing may refer to: * ''Crossing'' (2008 film), a South Korean film * ''Crossing'' (album), a 1985 album by world music/jazz group Oregon * Crossing (architecture), the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church * Crossing (knot theory) ...

'' (ECM, 1984)

With
Codona Codona was a free jazz and world fusion group which released three self-titled albums on the ECM label in 1979, 1981 and 1983. The trio consisted of multi-instrumentalists Don Cherry, Collin Walcott, and Nana Vasconcelos. The name of the group was ...

*''

'' (recd.1978, pbl.4/1979) ECM 1132 *'' Codona 2'' (recd.1980, pbl.2/1981) ECM 1177 *''

Codona 3 ''Codona 3'' is the third and final album by the jazz trio Codona, which featured sitarist and tabla player Collin Walcott, trumpeter Don Cherry and percussionist Naná Vasconcelos. It was recorded in 1982 and released on the ECM label the followi ...

'' (recd.1982, pbl.2/1983) ECM 1243

With The Rainbow Band

* ''The Rainbow Band'' (Elektra, 1971)

As sideman

Within his brief career Walcott played with a range of different musicians of different styles and contributed to the following albums: With

David Amram David Werner Amram III (born November 17, 1930) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings.

* ''Subway Night'' (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ar ...

, 1973) With Bobby Callender * ''Rainbow'' (

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

, 1968) With

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

* '' Hear & Now'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, 1977) With

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. Early life Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...

* ''

The Restful Mind ''The Restful Mind'' is an album by jazz guitarist Larry Coryell. It was recorded at Vanguard Records' New York City studio, and was released by Vanguard in 1975. It features Coryell on acoustic and electric guitars, along with three of the four m ...

'' (

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives f ...

, 1975) With Cosmology * ''Cosmology'' (

Elektra Electra was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. Electra or Elektra may also refer to: Greek mythology *Electra (Pleiad), one of the Pleiades * Electra, one of the Danaids, daughter of Danaus and Polyxo * Electra (Oc ...

, 1971) With David Darling * '' Cycles'' (

ECM ECM may refer to: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Elliptic curve method * European Congress of Mathematics ...

, 1981) With

*''

'' (

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

, 1972) With Rachel Faro * ''Refugees'' (RCA Victor, 1974) With

Cyrus Faryar Cyrus Faryar ( fa, سیروس فریار; born February 26, 1936) is an Iranian-American folk musician Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20t ...

* ''Cyrus'' (Elektra, 1971) * ''Islands'' (Elektra, 1972) With

Egberto Gismonti Egberto Amin Gismonti (born December 5, 1947) is a Brazilian composer, guitarist and pianist. Biography Gismonti was born in the small city of Carmo, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, into a musical family. His mother was from Sicily and his ...

* ''

Sol do Meio Dia ''Sol do Meio Dia'' (Portuguese for "Noon Sun") is an album by Brazilian composer, guitarist and pianist Egberto Gismonti recorded in 1977 and released in 1978 on the ECM label.

'' (ECM, 1978) With

Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and " Reason to Believe", be ...

* '' Bird on a Wire'' (Columbia 1971) With

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul (both of which he frequently covered), and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar styl ...

* ''

Richard P. Havens, 1983 ''Richard P. Havens, 1983'' is a 1968 double album set by folk rock musician Richie Havens featuring a combination of studio recordings and live material recorded in concert during July 1968. The album combined original material with several of t ...

'' (Verve, 1969) With

Dave Liebman David Liebman (born September 4, 1946) is an American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator. He is known for his innovative lines and use of atonality. He was a frequent collaborator with pianist Richie Beirach. In June 2010, he received ...

* ''

Drum Ode ''Drum Ode'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Dave Liebman recorded in 1974 and released on the ECM label.

'' (ECM, 1974) With

Alan Lorber Alan Lorber is an American music arranger, record producer, and composer. References Record producers from New York (state) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American music arra ...

Orchester * ''The Lotus Palace'' (Big Beat Records, 1967) With

Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recor ...

* ''

Key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

'' (Increase/Lovely Music, 1971) * '' Our Lady of Late'' (Minona/WERGO, recd. 1972, publ. 1973) * ''

Dolmen Music ''Dolmen Music'' is a 1981 studio album by American composer and vocalist Meredith Monk. Recorded in March 1980 and January 1981, it was released on the ECM New Series label. The recording is Monk's first of 12 recordings with the ECM record lab ...

'' (ECM, 1981) * ''

Turtle Dreams ''Turtle Dreams'' is an album by American composer and vocalist Meredith Monk recorded in 1983 and released on the ECM Records, ECM New Series label.

'' (ECM, 1983) With

Jim Pepper Jim Gilbert Pepper II (June 18, 1941 – February 10, 1992) was a jazz saxophonist, composer and singer of Kaw and Muscogee Creek Native American heritage. He moved to New York City in 1964, where he came to prominence in the late 1960s as a me ...

* '' Comin' and Goin''' (

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record la ...

, 1983) With

Vasant Rai Vasant Rai (1942–1985) was one of the world's most acclaimed masters of Indian music and played the Indo-Afghan instrument the sarod. Personal life and education Rai's family was from a small town in India called Unjha and he was born in Paris ...

* ''Spring Flowers'' (Universe, 1976) * ''Autumn Song'' (Universe, 1978) With

* ''Tabla Solo'' (Vanguard, 1977) With

* ''

Music for Yoga Meditation and Other Joys ''Music for Yoga Meditation and Other Joys'' is a 1968 album by Tony Scott. Reception The album was reviewed by Stewart Mason for Allmusic who described it as "...not just a lifestyle curio, but a musically interesting lifestyle curio. Strip away ...

'' (Verve, 1968) * ''Tony Scott'' (Verve, 1970) With Titos Sompa * ''Yao! Titos Sompa with the Tanawa Dance Company'' (Vanguard, 1978) roduction onlyWith

Ralph Towner Ralph Towner (born March 1, 1940) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet and French horn. Biography Towner was born ...

* ''

Trios / Solos ''Trios / Solos'' is an album by American jazz guitarist Ralph Towner with Glen Moore. Reception At AllMusic, critic Thom Jurek gave the album four stars, stating, "While ''Trios/Solos'' has its moments of pure unadulterated noodling yawn, ther ...

'' (ECM, 1973) with

Glen Moore Glen Moore (born October 28, 1941) is an American jazz bassist, who occasionally performs on piano, flute and violin. Moore was born in Portland, Oregon, United States. His performing career began at age 14 with the Young Oregonians in Portla ...

With Barry Wedgle * ''Kake'' (Wonderful World Records, 1982) With

Elyse Weinberg Elyse J. Weinberg (October 25, 1945 – February 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American singer-songwriter. In later life she used the name Cori Bishop. Biography Weinberg was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. She and her family moved to Montreal ...

* ''Elyse'' (Orange Twin, 1968) With

Paul Winter Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...

* ''Road'' ( A&M, 1971) * ''

Icarus In Greek mythology, Icarus (; grc, Ἴκαρος, Íkaros, ) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth of Crete. After Theseus, king of Athens and enemy of Minos, escaped from the labyrinth, King Minos sus ...

'' ( Epic, 1972)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walcott, Collin 1945 births 1984 deaths Appalachian dulcimer players Sitar players Indiana University alumni UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture alumni Pupils of Ravi Shankar ECM Records artists Road incident deaths in Germany Oregon (band) members Paul Winter Consort members Codona members

Early life

Later life and career

Discography

As leader

With Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

With Codona Codona was a free jazz and world fusion group which released three self-titled albums on the ECM label in 1979, 1981 and 1983. The trio consisted of multi-instrumentalists Don Cherry, Collin Walcott, and Nana Vasconcelos. The name of the group was ...

With The Rainbow Band

As sideman

See also

References

External links

With
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

With
Codona Codona was a free jazz and world fusion group which released three self-titled albums on the ECM label in 1979, 1981 and 1983. The trio consisted of multi-instrumentalists Don Cherry, Collin Walcott, and Nana Vasconcelos. The name of the group was ...