Collin Walcott

Collin Walcott (April 24, 1945 – November 8, 1984)[1] was an American musician who worked on jazz and world music.

Collin Walcott
Born(1945-04-24)April 24, 1945
New York City, US
DiedNovember 8, 1984(1984-11-08) (aged 39)
Magdeburg, East Germany
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Sitar, tabla
Websitewww.collinwalcott.com

Early life

Walcott was born in New York City, United States.[2] He studied violin and tympani in his youth, and was a percussion student at Indiana University.[3] After graduating in 1966, he went to the University of California, Los Angeles, and studied sitar under Ravi Shankar and tabla under Alla Rakha.[2]

Later life and career

According to critic Scott Yanow of AllMusic, Walcott was "one of the first sitar players to play jazz".[3] Walcott moved to New York and played "a blend of bop and oriental music with Tony Scott" in 1967–69.[2] Around 1970 he joined the Paul Winter Consort and co-founded the band Oregon.[2][3] 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".[2]

Walcott also played on the Miles Davis 1972 album On the Corner,[2] had three releases under his own name on ECM Records,[3] and taught at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado.[2]

Walcott was killed in a bus crash in Magdeburg, East Germany, on November 8, 1984,[2] while on a tour with Oregon.[3]

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 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."[4]

Discography

As leader

With Oregon
  • 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
  • Oregon (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:[5]

With David Amram

With Bobby Callender

With Don Cherry

With Larry Coryell

With Cosmology

With David Darling

With Miles Davis

With Rachel Faro

  • Refugees (RCA Victor, 1974)

With Cyrus Faryar

  • Cyrus (Elektra, 1971)
  • Islands (Elektra, 1972)

With Egberto Gismonti

With Tim Hardin

With Richie Havens

With Dave Liebman

With Alan Lorber Orchester

  • The Lotus Palace (Big Beat Records, 1967)

With Meredith Monk

With Jim Pepper

With Vasant Rai

  • Spring Flowers (Universe, 1976)
  • Autumn Song (Universe, 1978)

With Alla Rakha

  • Tabla Solo (Vanguard, 1977)

With Tony Scott

With Titos Sompa

  • Yao! Titos Sompa with the Tanawa Dance Company (Vanguard, 1978) [production only]

With Ralph Towner

With Barry Wedgle

  • Kake (Wonderful World Records, 1982)

With Elyse Weinberg

  • Elyse (Orange Twin, 1968)

With Paul Winter

See also

References
  1. Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 412/3. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  2. Kernfeld, Barry (2003). "Walcott, Collin". Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J470400.
  3. "Collin Walcott | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  4. David James Duncan (1996). "My One Conversation with Collin Walcott". River Teeth: Stories and Writings. Bantam. pp. 191–192. ISBN 9780553378276.
  5. "Walcott Official Website Discography".
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