| |
FEATURING:
Dave Holland, Bass
Robin Eubanks, Trombone
Steve Nelson, Vibes
Chris Potter, Alto/Soprano Saxophone
Nate Smith, Drums
|
At the pinnacle of his career, Dave Holland has settled into the unassuming role of jazz master. The multi-award and poll-winning bassist, composer, arranger and bandleader leads two of the most vibrant groups in jazz: the Dave Holland Quintet and the Dave Holland Big Band. He has collaborated in two of the top jazz collectives of the decade: the ScoLoHoFo quartet comprised of Holland, John Scofield, Joe Lovano and Al Foster and the Herbie Hancock-piloted all-star quartet including Wayne Shorter and Brian Blade.
A onetime sideman with two titans of jazz, Thelonious Monk (a short tenure) and Miles Davis (a seminal experience during the trumpeter's Bitches Brew era), Holland made his debut as a leader in the early 1970s. He broke in as a leader with Music for Two Basses (1971) with Barre Phillips and Conference of the Birds (1972) with a band featuring Sam Rivers and Anthony Braxton. Holland also expanded his work as a side musician to include recording with a diversity of artists such as Bonnie Raitt (Give It Up, 1972), John Hartford (Morning Bugle, 1972) and Lee Konitz (Satori, 1974).
In recent years, his recording career has continued to flourish, recording such milestone albums as his quintet CD, Extended Play: Live at Birdland (2003) and two Grammy-winning big band discs, What Goes Around (2002) and the potent follow-up Overtime (2005). Continuing this impressive creative streak into 2006, Holland released a new quintet album, entitled Critical Mass. The album is the first new studio recording by the Dave Holland Quintet to be released in over five years and marks drummer Nate Smith's debut recording with the band.
Born in Wolverhampton, England, on October 1, 1946, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue the professional music life in a top 40 band. He and his band mates entertained the idea of getting a record deal and, like the Beatles and Rolling Stones at the time, played ballrooms and small clubs around England.
Eager to learn more about his bass guitar, Holland gravitated to jazz players when he was 15. After seeing an issue of DownBeat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs where Brown was backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also picked up two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover.
Within a week, Holland recalls, he traded in his bass guitar for an acoustic bass and began practicing with the records. "I loved the richness of the sound and the instrument's expressiveness. But what really knocked me out-and is still the key to playing this music-is the communicative quality of those players. The idea of the communion of playing struck me deeply-how they complemented each other during solos and how they interacted. This was so far ahead of anything I had heard up to that point. I saw a much wider horizon ahead to reach for." He adds, "The emotion of jazz moved me. It knocked me off my feet. I was inspired. I couldn't think of anything better to do with my life than to try to play like Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar."
In October 2006 Holland turned 60. In reflecting on his consistency as a preeminent jazz bassist, he says he feels fortunate in being able to persevere for so long. "When you find yourself struggling against the challenges of the music industry and your rent's due, those are the difficult times when you are tested," he says. "Each musician has to make their own decision about how they want their music to serve. When you make the commitment to stay true to your musical voice instead of giving into the temptations of some fantastic offer, that is when your music gets stronger. That's something I see as a positive result of this commitment: renewed energy. In the end, people do recognize that commitment." |
