Segnalo una ottima recensione del nuovo album dell'ottetto del grande Dave Holland, sul sito All About Jazz.
It's been nearly four years since bassist Dave Holland has delivered an album based around his enduring quintet of over a decade. Since 2006's Critical Mass (Dare2), he's released Pass It On (Dare2, 2008) and The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival Records, 2009), both featuring ensembles where, for the first time in his lengthy career, the bassist collaborated with pianists. While both discs were as exhilarating and groove-heavy as anything he's done, the inherent chemistry of his quintet—powerhouse saxophonist Chris Potter, ever-inventive trombonist Robin Eubanks, harmonically modernistic vibraphonist Steve Nelson and potent drummer Nate Smith—remains something special, whether on its own or at the core of Holland's big band, last heard on Overtime (Dare2, 2005).
As a happy medium between the smaller, lither quintet and its more expansive big band cousin, the Dave Holland Octet has toured occasionally over the past several years, making a formal release long overdue. Recorded live at New York's Birdland at the beginning of 2009, Pathways also bucks Holland's recent trend with a set list culled largely from the past, but with updated arrangements that take advantage of both the ensemble firepower and solo acumen of additional members Antonio Hart (alto saxophone), Alex Sipiagin (trumpet) and Gary Smulyan (baritone sax)—all members of the Dave Holland Big Band and a larger musical family to which the veteran bassist has been consistently loyal over the past decade.
While the modal "Shadow Dance" has been a part of Holland's repertoire since Jumpin' In (ECM, 1984), with the bassist's chordless, horn-driven quintet of the 1980s, it has never grooved quite this hard, thanks to Smith's ability to be simultaneously frenetic and in the pocket. Nelson's marimba adds a new dimension to a familiar track that features a lengthy, painstakingly built and ultimately climactic solo from Hart that ratchets up even higher when Holland, Smith and Nelson kick into high gear. Nelson has played "Ebb and Flo" before, on the 1996 ECM quartet date, Dream of the Elders, but with four horns to push the melody and provide egging-on support for its soloists—Eubanks, Holland and Potter's particularly incendiary tenor spot—Holland's new, Latin-esque arrangement burns even brighter.
It's been nearly four years since bassist Dave Holland has delivered an album based around his enduring quintet of over a decade. Since 2006's Critical Mass (Dare2), he's released Pass It On (Dare2, 2008) and The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival Records, 2009), both featuring ensembles where, for the first time in his lengthy career, the bassist collaborated with pianists. While both discs were as exhilarating and groove-heavy as anything he's done, the inherent chemistry of his quintet—powerhouse saxophonist Chris Potter, ever-inventive trombonist Robin Eubanks, harmonically modernistic vibraphonist Steve Nelson and potent drummer Nate Smith—remains something special, whether on its own or at the core of Holland's big band, last heard on Overtime (Dare2, 2005).
As a happy medium between the smaller, lither quintet and its more expansive big band cousin, the Dave Holland Octet has toured occasionally over the past several years, making a formal release long overdue. Recorded live at New York's Birdland at the beginning of 2009, Pathways also bucks Holland's recent trend with a set list culled largely from the past, but with updated arrangements that take advantage of both the ensemble firepower and solo acumen of additional members Antonio Hart (alto saxophone), Alex Sipiagin (trumpet) and Gary Smulyan (baritone sax)—all members of the Dave Holland Big Band and a larger musical family to which the veteran bassist has been consistently loyal over the past decade.
While the modal "Shadow Dance" has been a part of Holland's repertoire since Jumpin' In (ECM, 1984), with the bassist's chordless, horn-driven quintet of the 1980s, it has never grooved quite this hard, thanks to Smith's ability to be simultaneously frenetic and in the pocket. Nelson's marimba adds a new dimension to a familiar track that features a lengthy, painstakingly built and ultimately climactic solo from Hart that ratchets up even higher when Holland, Smith and Nelson kick into high gear. Nelson has played "Ebb and Flo" before, on the 1996 ECM quartet date, Dream of the Elders, but with four horns to push the melody and provide egging-on support for its soloists—Eubanks, Holland and Potter's particularly incendiary tenor spot—Holland's new, Latin-esque arrangement burns even brighter.
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