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MALLET HEAD RADIO Now Broadcasting on Live365.com Tue, Jan. 15 2008 Featuring 40 years of album cuts, live and demo tracks by Tom Collier and Dan Dean, Mallet Head Radio began broadcasting on Live365.com this afternoon. With over 100 different tracks, listeners will find a wide variety of jazz ranging from cool jazz to fusion to avant-garde, all composed and performed by Collier and Dean. Several important musicians also appear on various tracks with Tom and Dan including saxophonists Ernie Watts and Gary Herbig, keyboardists Don Grusin and Mike Lang, drummers Alex Acuña and Joe Porcaro as well as mallet legend Emil Richards and electric bassist Abe Laboriel. Click on the link below to tune in. It's free!! http://www.live365.com/stations/tomcolliervibes?play&site=live365

NEW TOM COLLIER SOLO ALBUM IN THE WORKS Fri, Aug. 17 2007 Tom Collier is currently recording a new album of pieces composed for vibraphone and marimba. The new compositions blur the lines between contemporary classical music and jazz. Several pieces combine thoroughly composed themes with improvisation, not necessarily jazz-based, while others display an obvious connection to jazz phrasing. Release date for the album has not been established (as of mid-August), but Collier hopes to have it ready to go sometime before the end of the year, label and distribution TBA. Watch this site for further update on the album's progress.

TOM COLLIER FEATURED ON MUSIC MINUS ONE BIG BAND JAZZ RECORDINGS Thu, Apr. 27 2006 New York's longtime Music Minus One (MMO) label has re-released three educational jazz albums designed for students to gain experience in big band performance utilizing a "play-along" format with provided charts. The three albums are entitled "Northern Lights"(MMO-2208) featuring The Canadian All-Star Stage Band, "Take One" (MMO-2018) featuring the Jersey State Jazz Ensemble and "Studio City" (MMO-2028) featuring The Northridge Jazz Ensemble. All three feature guest drummer Tom Collier. The original albums were issued on vinyl lp's in the 1970's with the drummer removed from each track allowing the student space to play along with the band. With the longer playing time available on CD's, MMO contacted Tom Collier, Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, to add the missing drum parts to the original band tracks in order to provide performance models for students using the recordings. Collier, more known for his jazz vibraphone skills, is also an accomplished drum set player with years of experience in recording studios - experience that came in handy for these projects. As Collier explained, "The original tracks were originally cut with a live drummer who was in an isolation booth so that the band could be separated for the MMO recordings. Unfortunately, they didn't use click tracks so the problem for me was dealing with slight variations in tempo that naturally occur in jazz performances. I had to make my own click tracks "on the fly" in order to create a sense of tempo that made sense to me. Fortunately, I've had a lot of experience during my career as a studio drummer fixing rhythmic problems made by inexperienced drummers, so I relied a lot on my studio chops to get the projects completed and sounding natural." Each album includes a CD containing play-along tracks as well as Collier's model performances and drum parts for each of the selections. The albums can be ordered on-line at Amazon.com, or directly from Music Minus One at www.musicminusone.com .

TOM COLLIER AND NEW STORIES TRIO IN CONCERT Sat, Feb. 11 2006 Tom Collier was featured along with the New Stories Trio in concert at Brechemin Auditorium on the University of Washington campus as part of the "Mallet Head" concert series on February 10, 2006. Collier and New Stories pianist Marc Seales opened the concert, which was billed as "Hammer Jazz", with several vibe-piano duets. The two performed a new Collier ballad entitled "Touching" as well as Earl Hines' "Rosetta", Charlie Parker's "Yardbird Suite" and the venerable jazz standard "Body And Soul" Collier and Seales were joined in the second half of the concert by bassist Doug Miller and drummer John Bishop, once again debuting a new Collier original "No Hassle". The concert was recorded and plans are in the works for a CD release sometime in the future. Check back for news regarding this project.

COLLIER&DEAN"DUETS"NOMINATED FOR NW JAZZ RECORDING OF THE YEAR Wed, Jan. 25 2006 Tom Collier and Dan Dean's 2005 album, "Duets", has been nominated for NW Jazz Recording Of The Year by Earshot Magazine. The album received considerable national radio airplay throughout 2005 as well as glowing critical reviews in such magazines as Jazz Times, All About Jazz and the All Music Guide. Collier and Dean celebrated 40 years of a musical partnership this past October with a festive concert at Meany Hall in Seattle featuring longtime musical influences Emil Richards and William O. "Bill" Smith and Seattle drummer John Bishop. The Earshot nomination culminates a successful year for the duo that also made rare club appearances at the Triple Door several times in 2005.

TOM COLLIER and DAN DEAN CELEBRATE 40 YEARS OF MUSIC Fri, Oct. 21 2005 Tom Collier and Dan Dean celebrated 40 years of playing music together on October 20th, 2005, in Meany Hall on the University of Washington campus. The concert featured two musicians who had a direct influence on Collier&Dean during the past 40 years, mallet legend Emil Richards and clarinet virtuoso William O."Bill"Smith. Since their first public performances in 1965 as part of a"family band"featuring Tom's father on trumpet, mother on piano and vocalist sister, the two have played music in more than two thousand concerts, club dates, recordings, clinics and workshops over the past 40 years. The two have found themselves in musical situations ranging from jazz duo concerts to country/western recording dates to guest artist performances with symphony orchestras not to mention the dozens of jazz and popular artists who have utilized their talents in concerts and recordings. One of the first and most important musical influences on Collier and Dean was (and still is) clarinetist William O. Smith - Bill to his friends and jazz audiences. Smith offered Collier a Rockefeller Fellowship to study avant-garde music and jazz at the University of Washington in 1967, an opportunity that led to performances with Smith and the U.W. Contemporary Group in New York in 1971. Shortly thereafter, Collier introduced Dan Dean to Smith and the Bill Smith Trio was born along with a year-long weekend jazz gig at the Merchants Cafe in Seattle. The trio re-united on October 20th and performed music from the Merchants days. After moving to Los Angeles in 1975, Tom was introduced to percussionist Emil Richards who offered encouragement in organizing a mallet jazz quintet featuring Collier's original music written for vibes, marimba and rhythm section. After Dan relocated to L.A. later that year, the quintet was finalized with the addition of pianist Don Grusin and drummers Bob Zimmitti or Ralph Humphrey. Collier, Richards and Dean were joined by Seattle drummer John Bishop on October 20th to perform mallet jazz music from a recent critcally-acclaimed Collier album entitled"Mallet Jazz"on Origin records. In addition to the Smith and Richards segments on their 40th Anniversary concert, Collier and Dean also performed as a duo and with Bishop as a trio playing music from their two albums,"Whistling Midgets"(1981) and"Duets"(2005).

NEW COLLIER & DEAN CD RELEASED - 1st Studio album in 24 years! Thu, Jan. 20 2005 The first Collier & Dean studio recording since 1981, "Duets", has been released on the Origin label. Vibraphonist Tom Collier and electric bassist Dan Dean have played music together for nearly 40 years in various formats ranging from rock to jazz to classical and just about everything else in between. While the duo has performed hundreds of concerts in front of live audiences during that time, the two have recorded only one previous album, 1981's "Whistling Midgets" on Inner City Records. "Duets" features several jazz standards including Gerry Mulligan's "Five Brothers", Miles Davis' "So What" and John Coltrane's "Giant Steps". Other highlights on the recording include a rare performance of Larry Coryell's "Lines", Dave Holland's "Backwoods Song" and Victor Feldman's "Rockavibabe". Four new Collier & Dean originals are also featured on the album including Collier's "Now And Then" and "Pacific Aire" as well as Dean's "Countess Li" and "Kill The Butler". The album is available in larger CD stores (Tower, Silver Platters, etc.), or on-line at the following locations: DAN DEAN PRODUCTIONS: ( click here for DAN DEAN PRODUCTIONS) AMAZON.COM: ( click here for AMAZON.COM) ORIGIN RECORDS: ( click here for ORIGIN RECORDS)

TOM COLLIER CONCLUDES SUCCESSFUL JAPANESE TOUR Wed, Jan. 19 2005 Tom Collier's first tour of Japan ended on a successful note on January 18th. The 12 day cultural exchange tour covered three cities in western and southern Japan including Himi, Kobe and Kumamoto. Collier's appearances were made possible through the support of the University of Washington and several schools coordinated by noted Japanese music educator and conductor Tomio Yamamoto. Performing in front of large audiences, Tom was joined by two of his former University of Washington students who are now living and working in Japan, Miho Takekawa and Christian Kreibiel. The trio performed music from Collier's recent "Mallet Jazz" album as well as selections from Miho and Christian's 2003 CD, "Tokyo To Seattle". The trio also performed with two Japanese high school groups: Musica Grato from Himi and the Tamana Girls High School Band in Kumamoto. One of the highlights of the tour was the opportunity to perform during the Kobe Earthquake 10th Anniversary memorial at Sumanoura Girls High School where the trio was joined by flutist Cheryl Collier (Tom's wife) and an excellent Kobe marimba quintet, The Flying Mallets. Photos of the Japanese tour are posted on the photos link located on the home page.

TOM COLLIER'S "MALLET JAZZ" NOW AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ON-LINE Sun, Nov. 21 2004 A new CD by Tom Collier, his first in over 13 years, has been released on the Origin label ( click here for www.origin-records.com). Featured on the disc are nine new original pieces for mallet jazz quintet - vibes, marimba, piano, electric bass and drums. Recorded mostly at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, the tracks feature some of the most prominent LA jazz musicians including Emil Richards (marimba), Joe Porcaro (drums), Don Grusin and Mike Lang (piano), and Seattle players Dan Dean (electric bass) and John Bishop (drums). The album is available in stores in major outlets across the United States as well as on-line at the following sites: ORIGIN RECORDS: ( click here for ORIGIN RECORDS) AMAZON.COM: ( click here for AMAZON.COM) "Mallet Jazz" was made possible by a Royalty Research Grant from the University of Washington where Collier is Director of Percussion Studies.

TOM COLLIER AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE Sun, Oct. 17 2004 On October 14th and 15th, Tom Collier visited the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachussetts working with beginning jazz improvisation students and giving an improvisation workshop for the Williams Zimbabwe Marimba Ensemble. Getting a rare chance to play drums, Collier, along with department chair and bassist David Kechley, accompanied the beginning jazz improvisation students of professor Andy Jaffe while interjecting various comments to the students. A highlight of the class involved the faculty trio of Jaffe (on piano), Kechley and Collier jamming on a montuna in the middle of the Duke Ellington / Juan Tizol classic, "Caravan". Although the Zimbabwe Marimba Ensemble had only three previous rehearsals prior to Collier's visit, the group, directed by Professor Ernest Brown was ready to begin improvising on a traditional Zimbabwe folk song. By the end of the masterclass, the student performers were beginning to display flashes of improvisational creativity as well as more confidence in their playing. The Williams music department boasts several sets of authentic marimbas built in Zimbabwe ranging from bass to soprano instruments. Check out the photos link for further details of the Williams College visit.

Tom Collier - "50 Years Behind Bars" Sat, Apr. 3 2004 On Friday April 2, 2004, Tom Collier performed at Brechemin Auditorium on the University of Washington campus fifty years to the day of his first public performance at the age of 5. Playing a 56 year-old Musser Canterbury marimba, he recreated an updated version of one of the songs played on his first concert, a Russian folk song entitled "Minka". Tom also performed pieces from his youth including "Czardas" by Vittorio Monti, "Ballade for Solo Marimba and Six Mallets" by Collier, and "Aria" for solo vibraphone by James Beale. He was later joined by bassist Clipper Anderson, drummer Mark Ivester and world-reknowned clarinetist William O. "Bill Smith in performing some of Collier's favorite jazz tunes. See the photo gallery for further info.