#216 Tim Collins- Vibraphonist, Drummer, Educator, Composer & More!
Tim Collins has been called a “world-class vibes player” (CJSR Canada), “a distinctive vibraphone voice” (Radio One Australia), a “musician of fire” (Washington Post) and “nothing less than exemplary” (Downbeat). His music has been described as “thoughtful, probing composition” (Downbeat), “universal and vibrant” (Blogcritics.org) and “stunning sophisticated jazz” (PBS Australia).
He has released three previous albums as a leader to widespread critical acclaim. His debut, VALCOUR (Arabesque 2007) featured Ingrid Jensen and Aaron Parks, and received 3 stars in Downbeat. In 2008, Tim released FADE (Ropeadope), featuring Charlie Hunter, Simon Lott, and a string quartet. Produced by Hunter, the album explores minimalist, indie-rock, and classical connections with jazz. It received 4 stars in Downbeat. Tim’s third album CASTLES AND HILLTOPS (19/8 Records 2011) featured Danny Grissett, Matt Clohesy and Tommy Crane. It was given hour long features on radio shows Ö1-Jazztime (Vienna), BR-Jazztime (Munich) and received critical acclaim in Jazztimes (USA), Jazzwise (UK), Concerto (Austria), and many online music publications.
In 2013, Tim released a digital EP, CRAZY CAT.
He has toured, performed and recorded with John Ellis, John Hollenbeck, Ralph Alessi, Marty Ehrlich, Jody Redhage, Nasheet Waits, Hector Martignon, George Porter Jr., Ben Monder, Donny McCaslin, Peter O’Mara, Joel Frahm, Ingrid Jensen, Aaron Parks, Antonio Sanchez, Aaron Goldberg, Will Vinson, Danny Grissett, Mike Moreno, Charlie Hunter, Seamus Blake, and Adam Nussbaum.
Tim is a native of Plattsburgh, New York and has resided in Munich, Germany since 2010.
In addition to performing and teaching, Tim is also a play-by-play broadcaster and producer for EuroBaseballTV, covering baseball throughout Europe.
R.I.P.
The keyboardist, composer and bandleader Chick Corea — one of the most revered figures in contemporary jazz, but an artist whose work spanned fusion to classical — died on Feb. 9 at age 79.
Dan Muse from Chick Corea Productions confirmed his death to NPR on Thursday afternoon. Corea's team also reported his death on social media, saying that he died from "a rare form of cancer which was only discovered very recently." No other details about his illness and death were shared. -Article
Drummer, scientist, educator and improviser Milford Graves died in his Queens, N.Y. home around 3 p.m. on Fri., Feb. 12. He was 79. Lois, his wife of sixty-one years, confirmed to NPR that the cause was congestive heart failure, related to a 2018 diagnosis of amyloid cardiomyopathy. Mr. Graves was surrounded by Lois, his five children (four daughters and a son), his beloved granddaughter, Tatiana, and a cross-section of students across generations who had bestowed him with the honorific "Professor," a nod to his guidance in music, botany, martial arts and metaphysics.
Milford Graves was Professor Emeritus of Music at Bennington College in Vermont, where he taught the power and aesthetic of Black Music as a faculty member from 1973-2012. He used his platform there to express his many ideas, most well beyond the confines of the performance stage, operating instead as a kind of shamanic artist and teacher, whose emotional and intellectual connection to traditional music he fused with scientific inquiry and study. -Article
Rupert Neve, whose name is synonymous with quality audio recording equipment worldwide, has died. He remained in great spirits to the end, enjoying his life in Wimberley, Texas, where he and his wife Evelyn have lived for 27 years. At 94, Rupert remained engaged and passionate about his work, spending most days on a perpetual series of audio electronics projects and continuing to mentor our engineering team on numerous design and development projects.
From his earliest memories, Rupert had a love for music, electronics, and problem solving. These passions sparked a brilliant design career spanning over 80 years, during which he founded several historic companies, created the most revered analog audio equipment of all time, and became the most trusted name in sound. He received countless accolades, including a Lifetime Achievement Technical GRAMMY Award in 1997, Studio Sound Magazine’s Audio Person of the Century Award in 1999, an Audio Engineering Society Fellowship Award in 2006, and 16 TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) Awards with Rupert Neve Designs. -Article
Johnny Pacheco, one of the founders of the iconic Latin music label Fania Records, died Monday at age 85.
Pacheco had been hospitalized in New Jersey for undisclosed reasons, according to Alex Masucci, the brother of Fania co-founder Jerry Masucci. No cause of death was provided.
Fania Records revolutionized the sound of Cuban dance music in the 1970s. During that time, Pacheco was a prolific songwriter and musical arranger whose work helped fuel the careers of Celia Cruz and Ruben Blades. As a producer, his vast musical knowledge of various Latin musical genres helped ignite the rise of the Latin dance genre known as salsa and he became its biggest cheerleader.
The label's influence extended for several generations, well into the 21st century. DJs and producers have used tracks from the golden age of salsa to create remixed club hits around the world.
Pacheco was born in the Dominican Republic to a musical family in 1935. His father was a band leader that played popular dance music including the Cuban danzón, which would have an influence on the younger Pacheco's musical career. -Article
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to friends of the show, Diego Alvarez, and Fausto Cuevas III.
Gig Alerts
New York State will host concerts for the first time in a year. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces 300 pop-up gigs through Labor Day.
Dubbed ‘NY PopsUp,’ these gigs will begin on February 20th with a free performance for health care workers. That gig will feature Jon Batiste, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Cecile McLorin Salvant, and Ayodele Casel. The quartet of performers will travel around New York City’s five boroughs to perform in parks, street corners, and outside hospitals. -Article
Educational Spotlight
Thanks to Tim Buell, you can get this transcription of Aaron Sterling’s musings.
Social Soundbyte
Jon Batiste and Stay Human with special guests and friends from New Orleans, Trinidad & Tobago and Brazil perform a medley of songs as a way to come together and virtually celebrate Carnival and Mardi Gras in 2021.
Special shout-out to friend of the show, Nêgah Santos.
Black History
It is still Black History Month. If you would like to check out the playlist that Damon and Marcos created, you can slide over to Spotify with THIS LINK HERE. Disclaimer, some songs are NSFW.
There are gospel standards, protest songs, spoken word, hip hop classics and more!
Iconic Recording
This week’s iconic recording is Quimbara by Johnny Pacheco and Celia Cruz. Marcos Torres comes in clutch with some credits. Friend of the show, Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez is on congas, Luis Mangual on Bongos, Ismael Quintana on maracas and Timbales is still TBD.
The other two versions/arrangements Damon talks about are the Quimbara 2000, by (friends of the show) Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Robby Ameen and their group, Deep Rumba.
As well as, Damon’s arrangement with Milton Cardona (and friends of the show) Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Richie Flores, Gerald Myles, and Tony Escapa, and others.
Music News
The Newport Jazz Festival did a tribute to Chick Corea. A discussion hosted by Christian McBride on their Facebook page.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced its noms for potential 2021 inductees.
This year’s nominations include 16 artists from a variety of backgrounds. To be eligible, artists or bands must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years ago. Of the 16 nominees this year, seven of them are first-time artists on the ballot.
Many of those acts came of age in the 1990s, but there are some legacy artists who haven’t yet been inducted. Jay-Z and the Foo Fighters are the only artists to appear the first year they are eligible. -Article
2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Noms
Mary J. Blige
Kate Bush
Devo
Foo Fighters
The Go-Go’s
Iron Maiden
Jay-Z
Chaka Khan
Carole King
Fela Kuti
LL Cool J
New York Dolls
Rage Against the Machine
Todd Rundgren
Tina Turner
Dionne Warwick
Tim Collins Interview
The song leading into the interview is “TNT” by the Tim Collins Quintet.
Tim gives a shout-out to drummer Mike Clark who played on the original recording of “Actual Proof”.
Damon and Tim go back and forth putting together the details of playing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Paul Shaffer. Spoiler alert, Tim got the gig, Damon didn’t. Shout-out to Joe Locke for recommending Tim.
Tim is currently in Munich, Germany teaching and is also a play-by-play broadcaster and producer for EuroBaseballTV, covering baseball throughout Europe.
Tim teaches privately, at an international high school and the University of Vienna.
Tim started writing etudes for his students, and now sells them from his website.
Tim attended Ithaca College of Music for undergrad, and Manhattan School of Music for his masters. While at MSM, Tim got to study with Dave Liebman and Loren Schoenberg.
Tim talks about his approach to improvising.
Tim and Damon talk about (friend of the show) Stefon Harris and some of his approaches to music, as well as chasing happiness. Damon brings up the book “Delivering Happiness”.
Tim talks about Vienna. Damon remembers baked goods and climbing the St. Stephan’s Cathedral.
Damon brings up Bandcamp Friday and Tim talks about his new album that is on Bandcamp. The album is called “Uncertainty”.
Tim talks about his livestream concert at the jazz club in Munich called Club Unterfahrt.
Tim’s home teaching setup is a usb webcam. He uses a program similar to OBS. That stands for Open Broadcaster Software. Damon uses a GoPro in his home studio and mounts that overhead and uses an adapter called the CamLink to an HDMI cable so he can connect to his laptop. Tim mentions the Chordie App he uses as well.
Damon and Justin talk about screen recording on your computer with Quicktime or Snagit.
Investing in human relationships was something Tim might have done more of as he was navigating his time in NYC.
Germany has a Culture Minister and they help support the arts. The public support and monies for the arts is called kultur ferien.
Under proper conditions, live music venues are not places of infection. Given the conditions that the venue has a proper fresh-air supply—and all attendees wear masks—researchers concluded that infection with COVID-19 “through aerosol transmission can almost be ruled out,” according to a press release from Konzerthaus Dortmund.
If you want to hear Tim do play by play for Euro Baseball, you can TUNE IN HERE.
Tim would intersperse music from other genres into his jazz set, including “Frame by Frame” by King Crimson.
Rush and Neil Peart’s playing will always feel like home for Tim. But that is not exclusively the only genre he enjoys.
Tim has been inspired to create more videos from watching his peers like (friend of the show) Warren Wolf do live streams on his Facebook page, or his former teacher Joe Locke on his facebook page.
Some of the other vibraphonists Tim checked out are Johnny Lytel, Lem Winchester, Dave Pike (and the Dave Pike Set), & Terry Pollard (with Dorthy Ashby).
Tim brings up the duo concert of Joe Locke and Edmar Castaneda and Johnny Lytle playing Summertime.
Damon brings up Steve Nelson with the Dave Holland Quintet and Jake Chapman.
While at Ithaca, Tim studied with guitarist Steve Brown and Gordon Stout.
Tim mentions how Steve Nelson might have been influenced by guitarist Ted Dunbar.
Shout-out to Musser vibraphones.
You can catch Tim doing a live stream concert on Feb 21st on his YouTube page.
