Dave Holland

[God_of_bass]

On the Performance channel (?didn't even know it existed) i watched Herbie Hancock and his all stars play at the Montreal jazz festival, including Herb, Don Alias (Jaco's good friend), John Scofield(the guitarist from the 'Modern Electric Bass' video), one amazing sax player, mega drummer and the great Dave Holland.
I have never heard Dave Holland play before, but i was absolutely blown away, what a great upright player as well as acoustic bass guitarist, i'm going to check out his quartet.
Anyone else heard him?

[DaveBeny]

Me and Bruce Lindfield have both mentioned this concert in a thread in 'Recordings'. Check it out.

The line-up for that band was:

Herbie Hancock (piano)
Michael Brecker (sax)
John Schofield (guitar)
Dave Holland (bass)
Jack DeJohnette (drums)
Don Alias (perc)

Great musicians and a great show.

Dave H is one of the all-time great jazz bassists. There have been a number of threads on his recent recordings and groups.

[JimK]

Originally posted by God_of_bass
Anyone else heard him?

(sigh)


Pick up Prime Directive. It's a recent Holland album...listen how a premier group of musicians interact, listen, & blow.
Holland & drummer Billy Kilson are 'it'!
Robin Eubans(trombone) is one sick dude, too!
Chris Potter(sax) & Steve Nelson(vibes) ain't so bad, either!


Holland has also played electric bass in his day; check out It's About That Time...a Miles Davis electric album from the '70s(just recently released).
If you have the Isle Of Wight DVD-
There's a glimpse of Holland in this band...the 'name' of the tune is "Call It Anything". Works for me.


...and I'm getting jealous hearing about the cool stuff you're getting on the tele over there!

[Davehenning]

there is also a DVD available featuring Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette alongside Dave Holland from around 1990. I believe the title is made up of their names. It is really good and Holland also plays some electric bass on a few songs.


Dave

[fhodshon]

dave holland is a godsend to music.

f

[God_of_bass]

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Originally posted by God_of_bass
Anyone else heard him?
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(sigh)

Sorry I didn't mean it like that...ah hell, you know what i meant.

[moley]

Originally posted by God_of_bass
Anyone else heard him?

No, who is this guy, is he new on the scene?

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally posted by God_of_bass


Sorry I didn't mean it like that...ah hell, you know what i meant.

Well, if you had done a search before saying that, you would have found dozens of threads about him - he has been one of the top Jazz bassists for the last 30 years!!

[Bassin']

I just saw a documentary on Miles Davis last night and they had an interview with Dave Holland and also some live footage from around the Bitches Brew period... interesting stuff.

[slam]

Dave Holland was a guest teacher at the local jazz school a few years ago and his stay included several lectures that were open to the public. He is a great teacher. In particular his method of counting odd time signatures was very informative. He ended the week with a performance that included several solo pieces.

I know that Chris Wood of Medeski. Martin and Wood studied heavily with Dave. I think Dave still teaches at the New England Conservatory.

[Ari]

Originally posted by Davehenning
there is also a DVD available featuring Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette alongside Dave Holland from around 1990. I believe the title is made up of their names. It is really good and Holland also plays some electric bass on a few songs.


Dave

I have this DVD as well, and it is great. I think he plays DB a lot better than BG but don't make me wrong, his bass playing is not bad at all!

I have also a DVD called "Dave Holland Quintet", featuring Steve Coleman and Marvin "Smitty" Smith among others, which is a concert filmed in 1986. Dave Holland absolutely smokes on this release. I really like his playing and his solos. He has a great sound!

Ari

[Davehenning]

another great CD to get is Pat Metheny's "Question&Answer." It is a trio format with Holland and drummer Roy Haynes. The trio setting really allows you to hear Holland clearly.

He is a mutha.....

[XavierG]

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/search...der=descending

[baba]

All hail Dave Holland!

[Marty Forrer]

One thing I gotta say. While PC is my favourite player for both style and sound, I have several albums with Dave on, and his tone is always wonderful. Each note he plays has clarity and soul.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally posted by Marty Forrer
One thing I gotta say. While PC is my favourite player for both style and sound, I have several albums with Dave on, and his tone is always wonderful. Each note he plays has clarity and soul.

Funny you should say that as I really like his tone, but I have a feeling it is exactly the sort of sound that our "resident" DBers don't!!

So - he has a smooth sound, with little extraneous noises, which is always amplified. So - I was able to compare his bass and sound with another orchestral DB player. So - there is a Jazz DB "concerto" written especially for Dave, by Mark Anthony Turnage who is a highly-rated British, modern-classical composer who also loves Jazz and Miles' electric period.

So last year I saw Dave perform this piece : "Bass Inventions" with a chamber orchestra. So Dave was on the left and on the right was the orchestra's DB player. First thing you noticed was how much smaller DH's bass was than the orchestral one - it almost looked like a Cello in comparison.

So of course the sound was very different as well - Dave being amplified as opposed to the "noiser" all-acoustic bass.

Now I might be committing heresy here, but the sound of Dave Holland's amplified DB is the sort of sound I hear from my EUB when I play it as well as I can - really concentrating on getting a good tone. So when people say that an EUB can get a sort of amplified DB sound, it is DH's sound I am thinking of.