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

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

Early life

Walcott was born in New York City, United States. He studied violin and tympani in his youth, and was a percussion student at Indiana University School of Music. 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, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, 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 the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

under

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

and

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

under Alla Rakha.

Later life and career

According to critic

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, 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 a British film director and producer. He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...

" in 1967–69. Around 1970 he joined the Paul Winter Consort and co-founded the band

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. These groups, along with the trio Codona, 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 jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

1972 album ''

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

'', 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 a ...

, and taught at the Naropa Institute in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

. Walcott was killed in a bus crash in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

, East Germany, on November 8, 1984, while on a tour with Oregon. Author David James Duncan wrote retrospectively in 1996 about an Oregon concert he attended in Cascade Head in his piece "My One Conversation with Collin Walcott". Duncan described Walcott as sitting in "buddha-style" on stage, surrounded by instruments. Along with an

electronic drum Electronic drums are 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 Drum synthesiser, synthesized or Sampler ...

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, recorded in March 1975 and released on ECM the following year.

'' (1976) ECM 1062 *'' Grazing Dreams'' (1977) ECM 1096 *'' Dawn Dance'' (1981) ECM 1198 (with Steve Eliovson) *''Works (compilation)'' (1988) ECM/Polygram 837 276

With
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

*''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'' (ECM, 1984)

With Codona

*'' Codona'' (recd.1978, pbl.4/1979) ECM 1132 *'' Codona 2'' (recd.1980, pbl.2/1981) ECM 1177 *'' Codona 3'' (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 *''Subway Night'' (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

, 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 *'' Hear & Now'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, 1977) With

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist, widely considered the "godfather of fusion". Alongside Gábor Szabó, he was a pioneer in melding jazz, country and rock ...

*'' The Restful Mind'' (

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and 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. ...

, 1975) With Cosmology *''Cosmology'' ( Elektra, 1971) With David Darling *''

Cycles Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in ...

'' ( ECM, 1981) With

*''

'' ( Columbia, 1972) With Rachel Faro *''Refugees'' (RCA Victor, 1974) With Cyrus Faryar *''Cyrus'' (Elektra, 1971) *''Islands'' (Elektra, 1972) With

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

*'' Sol do Meio Dia'' (ECM, 1978) With

Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk music and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his own success, his songs " If I Were a Carpenter", " Reason to Believe", " Misty Roses" and " ...

*'' 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 music, folk, soul music, soul (both of which he frequently cover song, covered), and rhythm and b ...

*'' Richard P. Havens, 1983'' (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 a ...

*'' Drum Ode'' (ECM, 1974) With Alan Lorber 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, recordi ...

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

'' (ECM, 1983) With

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

*'' 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 distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

, 1983) With Vasant Rai *''Spring Flowers'' (Universe, 1976) *''Autumn Song'' (Universe, 1978) With Alla Rakha *''Tabla Solo'' (Vanguard, 1977) With

*'' Music for Yoga Meditation and Other Joys'' (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 i ...

*'' Trios / Solos'' (ECM, 1973) with Glen Moore With Barry Wedgle *''Kake'' (Wonderful World Records, 1982) With Elyse Weinberg *''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 (; , ) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth of Crete. After Theseus, king of Athens and enemy of King Minos, escaped from the labyrinth, Minos suspected that Icarus and Daedalu ...

'' (

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

, 1972)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walcott, Collin 1945 births 1984 deaths Appalachian dulcimer players Sitar players Jacobs School of Music 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