On Pass It On, his latest recording as a leader, the Grammy-winning bassist-composer Dave Holland once again shows all of his composing and bass playing prowess. Says the perennial poll-winner of the title track of his third recording on his Dare2 imprint (distributed by Emarcy): "That's a piece I wrote for Ed Blackwell. And the reason I called it 'Pass It On' is because Ed was a great teacher as well as a great player. He could do a wonderful workshop about the history of the drums from Baby Dodds to Jo Jones and the whole way. I always thought of him as being a great carrier of the tradition and passing that tradition on to other people. So after he passed away, I wanted to write a piece to celebrate his memory and his great work."
A remarkably interactive recording that organically melds advanced contrapuntal writing and wide open improvisation, Pass It On showcases Holland's new sextet featuring trombonist Robin Eubanks (a longtime member of Dave's working quintet), alto saxophonist Antonio Hart and trumpeter Alex "Sasha" Sipiagan (both members of Holland's acclaimed big band), veteran pianist Mulgrew Miller (a former Jazz Messenger and sideman in the Woody Shaw Quintet and Tony Williams Quintet), and the in-demand young drummer Eric Harland (a former member of the Joshua Redman Trio and the Kurt Rosenwinkel Group who also currently works with Charles Lloyd's quartet and the SF Jazz Collective).
This stellar sextet debuted at the beginning of 2006 and subsequently did a number of performances before going into the studio to document their rare chemistry. As Holland explains, "I did a week of showcase presentations at Birdland where I presented four different projects-we did the quintet, the big band, a duo with [vibraphonist] Steve Nelson, and we debuted the sextet at that presentation. I had played with all the horn players before but played only infrequently with Eric and Mulgrew. I recorded with Mulgrew on a couple of occasions and played with Eric on a Terence Blanchard recording [2000's Wandering Moon]. I always wanted to do more playing with both of those wonderful players, so I saw this as an opportunity."
On Pass It On, his latest recording as a leader, the Grammy-winning bassist-composer Dave Holland once again shows all of his composing and bass playing prowess. Says the perennial poll-winner of the title track of his third recording on his Dare2 imprint (distributed by Emarcy): "That's a piece I wrote for Ed Blackwell. And the reason I called it 'Pass It On' is because Ed was a great teacher as well as a great player. He could do a wonderful workshop about the history of the drums from Baby Dodds to Jo Jones and the whole way. I always thought of him as being a great carrier of the tradition and passing that tradition on to other people. So after he passed away, I wanted to write a piece to celebrate his memory and his great work."
A remarkably interactive recording that organically melds advanced contrapuntal writing and wide open improvisation, Pass It On showcases Holland's new sextet featuring trombonist Robin Eubanks (a longtime member of Dave's working quintet), alto saxophonist Antonio Hart and trumpeter Alex "Sasha" Sipiagan (both members of Holland's acclaimed big band), veteran pianist Mulgrew Miller (a former Jazz Messenger and sideman in the Woody Shaw Quintet and Tony Williams Quintet), and the in-demand young drummer Eric Harland (a former member of the Joshua Redman Trio and the Kurt Rosenwinkel Group who also currently works with Charles Lloyd's quartet and the SF Jazz Collective).
This stellar sextet debuted at the beginning of 2006 and subsequently did a number of performances before going into the studio to document their rare chemistry. As Holland explains, "I did a week of showcase presentations at Birdland where I presented four different projects-we did the quintet, the big band, a duo with [vibraphonist] Steve Nelson, and we debuted the sextet at that presentation. I had played with all the horn players before but played only infrequently with Eric and Mulgrew. I recorded with Mulgrew on a couple of occasions and played with Eric on a Terence Blanchard recording [2000's Wandering Moon]. I always wanted to do more playing with both of those wonderful players, so I saw this as an opportunity."
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