384,400 is an iconic number for stargazers who think in SI units. For old-school Imperial thinkers, it translates to 238,855. More pertinently for jazz fans, it’s the title of the new quartet album from Terence Collie. The pianist/composer, who also acts as the promoter of Mood Indigo Events, spoke via Zoom about the genesis of the album, his choice of standards and original compositions and his approach to recording with the recently-formed group. Interview by Bruce Lindsay:

The title refers to the average distance from the Earth to the moon – in kilometres, of course. It’s a reference to the album’s inspiration: “It was that rather large blue moon we had,” Collie recalls. At the beginning of 2023, Collie released Reminiscent, a solo piano album. Not long afterwards, he set to work on another recording, once again combining standards and originals: “I decided to get back into it, taking inspiration from anywhere, then the blue moon thing came about. My friend Stuart Braybrooke is an amateur photographer and took a really nice photo of the moon which I’ve used for the front cover. I started looking at moon-related things, ‘How High the Moon,’ and so on. I thought I’d look at ‘Clair de Lune’. I’m not in the habit of taking classical music and turning it into jazz tunes, but it has a really nice melody and I think the harmony lends itself to some nice chord changes so I wrote a new tune based on ‘Clair de Lune,’ jazzed up some of the chords, added an extended bridge.” The reworking became the album’s title tune, which has exercised the minds of some fans and drawn the ire of at least one: “I did a gig a few months ago and someone came up and said, ‘We’re in the UK – it’s miles not kilometres!’.”

384,400 features tenor saxophonist Roberto Manzin, bassist Nick Lenner-Webster and drummer Ted Carrasco, a newly-formed quartet that Collie plans to work with in the long term. “Because I’d just done the solo album, I needed to do something with a small band. I thought about some of my favourite players, who do I really click with? Roberto has played some of my original material before. He really enjoys playing my stuff and was happy to get the call. He came in and played everything exactly like I knew he would. Ted is someone I’ve played with over the last 10-15 years. I don’t think anyone in the UK plays like him. Being an American he’s got that je ne sais quoi, that swing. He’s heavily influenced by Jeff Tain Watts, Brian Blade, and very into Branford Marsalis, that modern sound, bringing energy without necessarily bringing volume. Get the drums right and it’s a pleasure to play on top of it. Nick and I play a lot together. He’s a bit under the radar, great player but humble. He’ll turn up to a gig and nail it, great sound and intonation. He was my first call.”

Writing for quartet, Collie is keen to leave space for interpretation: “I’m really into the idea of going off-piste a bit when we play. For recording, we were constrained as regards the length of each tune, but when we play these live we can really stretch out. Everybody brings their own thing to it, plays in their own way – I’m really happy to hear how people approach things.”

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Collie originally wrote “Brecon Blues” and “August” for piano trio. He made some changes when developing “Brecon Blues” for quartet: “I changed the key. There were already a couple of C-minor tunes on the album, so I moved it to D-minor. When we recorded it Ted said he heard it as an Elvin Jones type thing so we went with that energy, so it sounds a lot different from the piano trio version. Roberto took the tune to the next level.” By contrast, “August” changed little: “It was pretty much as I wrote it and played it in the trio. It fell into shape pretty quickly.”

There are two standards on 384,400. “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life,” says Collie, “is a song I’d not played for a very long time. I had a bit of time after we’d recorded the other tracks and I thought it would be nice to have a solo tune, one that would complement the rest of the tracks. Just a lovely tune I haven’t heard much recently.” He gives “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise” has quite a percussive approach, running counter to the atmosphere the title suggests. “Yeah, I wanted to mess with the melody, give it that double-dotted quaver feel, not play it in the same old way. I just liked playing it with a key change, taking the last A-section down a semi-tone. I like how we pick up the tempo for the solos, making it burn a little bit. Just trying to find something different to do with it. I thought it was cool. That was the first thing we recorded, the hardest tune first.”

The plan was to spend one day recording, with no more than three takes for each piece. The plan worked, with Collie choosing the first or second take for most of the tunes. “We’d play a number through, work out the feel, record it then move on. There’s no use doing ten takes. Move on, keep things fresh.” Were any tunes recorded but left off the record? “No. I planned it all out before the recording day. Anyway, I hadn’t written any more tunes.”

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384,400 is available on CD or download [see website link below]. The album launch takes place at the 606 Club in Chelsea on Monday 15 January 2024.

LINKS: Terence Collie website

Booking for gig at 606 Club