Jacob Collier [by Lewis Saul] - Best American Poetry Blog

On August 2 1994, in North London, Suzie Collier — a violinist, conductor, and professor at the Royal Academy of Music — gave birth to a boy, Jacob.

To compare this genius of the 21st century to Bach or Beethoven might seem like a fanboy exaggeration or even blasphemy — but I do so without hesitation.

Suzie gave her son a room in their home, where he was given free rein to develop his talent. In 2011 — aged 16 — Jacob recorded himself in multiples, doing a cover of Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka:

Two years later came this cover of Stevie Wonder's Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing:

Here you can see that this teenager has taught himself to play many different instruments with astonishing fluency.

In 2016, he released his debut album, In My Room. Here's the Flintstones:

In an imaginative idea, JC encouraged fans to send in short clips of them singing something — which he then would harmonize/orchestrate. This is Volume I (20 songs) of his "IHarmU" series …

In 2018, JC announced a sprawling project of 50 new songs, divided into four volumes, titled Djesse. To date, he has completed three volumes:

Djesse Vol. 1 — a Lionel Richie cover All Night Long:

Djesse Vol. 2 — Lua. Look for his mother, playing second violin!

And Moon River.

The video begins with JC admirers (did you spot David Crosby?) singing notes which form an F dominant seventh chord, which will finally resolve to the opening key of B-Flat Major.

Notice there are no instruments other than Jacob's voice (look for a JC holding a guitar, but putting it aside) …

There is a good reason for this — Jacob is using microtonal harmonies and just intonation throughout.

This transcription by June Lee, shows where he modulates to microtonal keys.

And this guy explains it to you:

Finally, from Djesse Vol. 3 — Sleeping On My Dreams: