In Conversation With Jacob Collier – NYU Sony Audio Institute (Sony Hall, 2026)

[00:00:00 - 00:07:48] Opening live looped vocal performance.

[00:07:49 - 00:14:03] Early childhood in London, family musical background, and first experiences using DAW and MIDI keyboards at age seven.

[00:14:04 - 00:23:03] Developing personal musical taste, attending a junior jazz program, and rejecting traditional rules to explore microtones and alternate tuning systems.

[00:23:04 - 00:26:27] Creating radical YouTube arrangements and being discovered by Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock.

[00:26:28 - 00:32:00] Collaborating with Ben Bloomberg (MIT Media Lab) to build a custom live-looping harmonizer and debuting the "one-man show" at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

[00:32:01 - 00:36:04] Thoughts on the current turbulent music industry landscape and why music is an essential tool for navigating uncertainty.

[00:36:05 - 00:40:45] Q&A 1: The fast-paced process of arranging and recording "Bridge Over Troubled Water" with Tori Kelly.

[00:40:46 - 00:47:53] Q&A 2: Collaboration philosophies. Contrasting authoritarian production styles (like strict classical conductors) with creating a safe, empowering environment for artists. Includes a story about recording in Morocco.

[00:47:54 - 00:59:49] Q&A 3: Overcoming creative blocks and maintaining vitality when the world's news cycle is bleak. The importance of agency, rest, and avoiding performative activism.

[00:59:50 - 01:22:01] Closing audience sing-along and solo piano performance.