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Ollie Collins

Influences and inspiration:
Include; Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, Larry Graham, Mark King & Level 42, Marcus Miller, Pino Palladino, Victor Wooten/ Bela Fleck, Alain Caron, Christian McBride, Tony Levin, Bootsy Collins, Parliament & Funkadelic, Nile Rogers & Bernard Edwards, Prince, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, John Scofield, The Yellowjackets, The Crusaders, James Jamerson & associated Motown, Stevie Wonder, Sly & Robbie, Tower Of Power, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Rush, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Paul Simon, Cream, Francis Dunnery, Ian Brown, David Bowie, Thomas Dolby, Starbase 109, Gerry Anderson, H.G. Wells.

Biography
At the age of 9 years Ollie’s earliest musical encounter was piano lessons with his auntie! After two years he was lured away by his older brother John, to join his school band called “The Bullets” they played covers by Cream, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and the Police. Ollie started out on the bottom string of an acoustic guitar then graduated to a Precision copy which he received from his parents for his eleventh birthday.
After subsequent years of playing along with top 40 records and playing with other local musicians, Ollie attended Leeds College of Music and Salford University where he learnt about jazz harmony, arranging and how to play the upright bass.
After leaving Music College in 1997 Ollie paid his dues by commuting between Manchester and London playing with various soul, funk and jazz groups. One of those bands was the Commitments touring band. In 1998 the band toured the UK, Scandinavia and Europe. Ollie’s recording break came in 1999 when he was asked to record an album for Alan Parsons at Abbey Road Studios.
Recording and Performance Credits 1997- 2007
The Commitments - Iconic Phare ��" Alan Parsons ��" Jersey Street ��" Angie Palmer ��" Curiosity Killed The Cat ��" Corinne Bailey Rae ��" Holly Lerski - Sax Assault ��" Bob Mintzer ��" Branford Marsalis ��" New Order ��" Cherry Ghost ��" Big Finn ��" Rebelski ��" Kenny Thomas ��" Hed Kandi ��" The Jooks.

Debut Album
In 2001 Ollie completed his home grown website called “Ollie Collins’ Global Bass”. The site offered free lessons, transcriptions and reviews of favourite bass albums as well as a discussion forum. Ollie also used the site to air demos of his own music. In its first year the website generated so much traffic, that Ollie used the opportunity to write, produce and release his debut album “Make Time Last”.

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Tags

"I think it's a really good CD and I don't hear anything that I can criticise. The playing is very good, as are the compositions and arrangements. The array of basses from electric to acoustic and the variation in styles from picking to slapping were also very interesting I thought".
Percy Jones - Brand X
"On this record Ollie displays of wonderful technique on all the instruments. The compositions are very tasteful and technically compelling".
Nick Beggs - Bass and Stick player with Ellis,Beggs and Howard; Belinda Carlisle.

Bass Guitar Magazine (Jan/Feb 06)
Make Time Last is the debut album from Manchester-based Ollie Collins, and sees him tackling a variety of instruments, from the upright, electric and piccolo to the fretless and Chapman Stick

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

A New Direction

Self Produced
2008

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Sanibel Island

From: A New Direction
By Ollie Collins

Videos

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