The Colorful Mozart
Photo courtesy of Elviss Railijs Bitāns/Pexels
If you do not know who Jacob Collier is, let me remedy that for you immediately. In fact, I encourage you to stop reading this paper and watch one of his live performances at the Kennedy Center on YouTube.
Jacob Collier is a 31-year-old singer/songwriter from London, England. Growing up, Collier was always surrounded by music. His mother was a violinist and conductor who taught at the Junior Royal Academy of Music. Collier’s maternal grandfather also played the violin and taught at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2015, he told Jazzwise magazine, “We sing Bach chorales together as a family – it’s just so much fun.”
Suffice it to say, music runs in the blood of the Collier family, which is clearly demonstrated by the talented Jacob Collier himself. Collier first rose to fame in 2013 when a video of him covering the song “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” by Stevie Wonder gained traction online. Within a matter of days, Collier received emails from composer and producer Quincy Jones and composer and jazz band leader Herbie Hancock. Before long, Collier was meeting Stevie Wonder himself. Since then, Collier has released five albums, his first in 2016, and his latest in February of 2024. His newest album, The Light For Days, is scheduled for release next week on Oct. 10, 2025.
But what is it exactly that makes Jacob Collier such a standout artist? Despite being dubbed “The colorful Mozart of Gen Z” by The New York Times, on the Kennedy Center website; having won seven Grammys, and collaborating with several famous artists such as Chris Martin of Coldplay, most people I have spoken with have never heard of him before. Perhaps it is because his style of music is not what you typically hear at the top of music charts these days. Collier's style is that he has no singular style. A quick Google search will tell you that he blends jazz with other genres (which yes, he does), but I argue that Jacob Collier has built a genre of his own. As a composer and a multi-instrumentalist, Collier has a talent for creating music in ways a person would never expect.
Perhaps one of the best examples of this can be found in the video of his performance at the Kennedy Center in Sept., 2023. Without any sheet music or rehearsal or preparation of any kind, Collier improvised a piece of music using his piano, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the audience. The video, which you can find easily on YouTube, is an incredible display of musical talent and human connection.
He starts with the instruments, assigning each section of the orchestra a note utilizing his perfect pitch, and almost immediately you can hear something beautiful begin to form. Before long, he is asking the musicians to play out of tune, and all the while the audience is simultaneously enthralled and amused by his mannerisms. Watching and listening to him piece it together in real time, and working so seamlessly with the orchestra, is magical, and slowly but ever so surely, the beautiful sounds he has curated so carefully become a coherent piece of music. It’s like honey to the ears.
Perhaps the best part is how down to Earth Collier is. He cracks jokes as he works, some of them self-deprecating. He compliments the talents of the musicians he conducts, and is overall charming in a very natural and unintentional way. The audience goes back and forth between laughing with him and being awed by him. You can tell as you watch him move across the stage that he truly enjoys what he is doing, that he is motivated purely by the music and sees performing as a privilege.
Finally, he sits at his piano and begins to sing, and motions for the audience to join him. A chorus of “I love you” rings throughout the hall and Collier stands to conduct the entire ensemble, orchestra, and audience together into a magnificent climax, and then he waves his arms in a sweeping and closing flourish and the music stops. He barely manages to get out a humble “Thank you” before the crowd erupts in applause.
Jacob Collier is a musical genius, but beyond his impressive technical skills and ear for harmonies and melodies, the best thing about Collier is how he brings people together through music.
If you go on a Jacob Collier deep dive on YouTube like I did, you’ll find video after video of Jacob conducting the audience as his instrument, breaking a venue into different sections and making the different notes of “oohs” and “ahhs” of everyday people come together to sound like a professional chorus. Collier is blessed with skills that surpass even the most popular artists of our time, but his greatest quality is the way he shares his gifts with the world. You can stream his new album The Light for Days on Oct. 4, 2025.