Collin Walcott
Grazing Dreams

"Collin was able to combine the academic and instinctive approach, passion and pragmatism in the most total and complete way I have ever seen. The beauty that this man managed to create will live on and will always be a lesson for us. His impressive strength and his remarkable kindness still exist and continue to guide us." Ralph Towner.

Collin Walcott passed away in 1984, at just thirty-nine years old, during a terrible car accident while on a European tour with Oregon, which miraculously left the other three members of the band unharmed.

One of the earliest exponents of what is now commonly referred to as World Music, musicologist, and multi-instrumentalist, Walcott studied sitar with Ravi Shankar and tabla with Alla Rakha. His artistic partnership with Paul McCandless, Ralph Towner, and Glen Moore dates back to the early seventies, first with the Paul Winter Consort and then with the group Oregon, where he embodied the most ethnic and third-world spirit. Paul McCandless, when he first heard his sitar dueting with Ralph Towner's guitar, said it seemed like "music from another world," or to paraphrase one of Oregon's early hits, "Music From Another Present Era."

Of the few recordings as a leader that Collin Walcott left us, "Grazing Dreams" (1977) is perhaps the work that best expresses the inspiration and deep spiritual breath of a Westerner who managed to understand, penetrate, and disseminate Indian music in our so-called "civilized world."

The choice of side players was particularly apt: Walcott handles sitar and tabla, while the multifaceted range of percussion heard on the record is the work of the versatile Dom Um Romao. Palle Danielsson (bass) once again confirms his ability to adapt with extreme ease to the most varied musical situations. Another solo voice, trumpeter Don Cherry, his companion in the equally seminal (and pioneering of World Music) group "Codona," a brilliant collaborator of Ornette Coleman during the peak years of the New Thing, also a great enthusiast of Eastern music. Finally, guitarist John Abercrombie, a musician too often misunderstood or underrated: his discreet but effective contribution is often indispensable to the final result.

From the very first notes of the opening "Song Of The Morrow", Walcott projects us into a dreamy and evocative acoustic dimension, tinged with a slight unease. The rapport between Walcott and Cherry (here also on flute) is remarkable, and the trumpeter often sets aside his pyrotechnic eloquence to linger on long notes, full of meaning and perfectly aligned with the work's aesthetic. Abercrombie weaves into the empty spaces, dispensing gentle brushstrokes that recall his beautiful "Characters".

Solemn atmospheres that call for silence ("Moon Lake"), but dotted with dancing moments that bring restrained smiles ("Gold Sun"). Brief but incisive moments of improvisative invention ("Mountain Morning"), echoes of Oregon's early days ("Grazing Dreams", with an inspired solo by Abercrombie). Unsettling impressions, as in "The Swarm" ("the swarm", aptly named), where trumpet, sitar, and bass evoke a swirling and hypnotic whirl of sounds.

An unusual, softly spoken album, not for every moment, of course, but rich in musical intelligence and splendid instrumental passages. A great protagonist not to be forgotten.