Jazz Articles about Dave Holland

Dave Holland: Rarum X: Selected Recordings

by Norman Weinstein
May 1, 2004

Bassist and bandleader Dave Holland's career is oddly yet movingly outlined in this collection. Since the artist is responsible for the eleven tunes culled from ten various albums, I have to assume there was a sound reason for neglecting to include anything from What Goes Around, his forceful 2002 big band session featuring many of his finest original compositions. Getting past that omission, there is a tantalizing assortment of intelligently crafted and lovingly performed music in this ...

Dave Holland: A Giant, and Still Growing

by R.J. DeLuke
March 13, 2004

Dave Holland speaks right to the point. Assured. Precise. Confident. The British accent of the England-born musician is perhaps a bit worn off from being in the United States for so long, since 1968 when the 22-year old relatively unknown bassist was called across the ocean to join Miles Davis at a time when the Price of Darkness was about change the world yet again, this time with his mysterious, raucous and marvelous electronic explorations.Holland's come a long ...

Miroslav Vitous & Dave Holland

by AAJ Staff
January 17, 2004

Submitted on behalf of George Harris.

Two bass players separated by mere months of age, both initially influenced by the LaFaro/Peacock school of thought, and both arriving at the burgeoning of a whole new era of jazz are featured on these ECM new releases. Both bassists took diverging paths and Universal Syncopations and Extended Play provide an insightful comparison.

Miroslav Vitous Universal Syncopations ECM Records 2003

Miroslav Vitous, at one time the darling of ...

Dave Holland's Opus

by Clifford Allen
November 11, 2003

Bassist and composer Dave Holland has led a 35-year career that many musicians would find enviable: working with Miles Davis' iconoclastic electric ensembles of the late '60s and early '70s; following that up with Chick Corea and Anthony Braxton in the cooperative ensemble Circle; making his first date as a leader with Braxton and Sam Rivers as sidemen; recording sessions of solo, duo, and bass-quartet configurations that have won the esteem of bassists worldwide; and to top it all off ...

Dave Holland Quintet: Extended Play/Live at Birdland

by AAJ Staff
September 25, 2003

This group just doesn't put out a bad record, so it's hard to look at something new without some expectations. Bassist Dave Holland has led this particular quintet for six active years and four records, the latest of which is a live double set where the tunes stretch out around 12 minutes each. One would think this wasn't the best marketing move--aren't double live sets reserved for aging rock stars?--but then again Holland has been given the nod by the ...

Stan Getz: My Foolish Heart

by AAJ Staff
January 22, 2003

Opening with a snappy “Invitation," this newly-found home recording shows off what producer Joel Dorn calls “prime Getz." Rodgers and Hart’s “Spring is Here" wafts and splashes through a fragrant rain chilled by Jack DeJohnette’s shivery brush work, but DeJohnette sharpens the tempo for Chick Corea’s “Litha," sparking Stan and Richie Beirach to burning life.

This is not another “Desafinado" compilation. This is Getz cookin’ it up with a team of ‘big name’ players. Dave Holland’s bouncy ...

The Dave Holland Big Band: What Goes Around

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 2002

I've never been overly impressed by popularity contests, and as British-bred bassist Dave Holland swept the field in this year's Down Beat magazine critics' poll, I was thoroughly prepared not to like What Goes Around by Holland's thirteen-piece big band.

Surprise! The album is far better than expected; in fact, I'd go so far as to concede that it is thoroughly absorbing, enlivened every step of the way by notably innovative charts and earnestly inspired blowing from Holland's company of ...