Saturday 21st July
Spending a rare quiet evening in, trawling through the news channels – nothing. The the terrestrials – nothing. Tried BBC 4 – just in case. And I discovered a genius; Jacob Collier. I know – I had never heard of him either. He is a multi-instrumentalist and singer, writer and interpreter of songs. He plays piano, guitar, double bass, violin and double bass and drums, and maybe many others too. He sings in a strange but hypnotic voice, gentle and strong, hovering over notes. I am not sure if it is jazz or classical or modern dance music – but brilliant it certainly is.
He was playing with a full orchestra, but was never drowned out, the arrangements left plenty of room for his remarkable vocals. He has one album out ‘In My Room’, which, on the strength of this I have just ordered. This was self-recorded in his room as the title suggests. But he has worked on the arrangements with this orchestra. He has toured, playing with orchestras and smaller bands and has attracted the interest of Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock and Dr. Dre, amongst others. He sung some of his own songs and a couple by Stevie Wonder and The Police – remarkable versions, completely subverting and re-inventing them. He even finished with startling version of ‘Blackbird’ by The Beatles.
I was blown away by this 24 year-old’s talent. Truly remarkable. Can’t wait for the CD to arrive.
