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Baltica in 550 mya (green)

Baltica is a name applied by geologists to a late-Proterozoic, early-Palaeozoic continent that now includes the East European craton of northwestern Eurasia. Baltica was created as an entity not earlier than 1.8 billion years ago. Before this time, the three segments/continents that now comprise the East European craton were in different places on the globe. Baltica existed on a tectonic plate called the Baltic Plate.

Partial history[link]

• ~1.8 billion years ago, Baltica was part of the major supercontinent Columbia.
• ~1.5 billion years ago, Baltica along with Arctica and East Antarctica were part of the minor supercontinent Nena.
• ~1.1 billion years ago, Baltica was part of the major supercontinent Rodinia.
• ~750 million years ago, Baltica was part of the minor supercontinent Protolaurasia.
• ~600 million years ago, Baltica was part of the major supercontinent Pannotia.
• ~Cambrian, Baltica was an independent continent.
• ~late Ordovician, Baltica collided with Avalonia (most of modern Western Europe)
• ~Devonian, Baltica collided against Laurentia, forming the minor supercontinent Euramerica.
• ~Permian, all major continents collided against each other to form the major supercontinent Pangaea.
• ~Jurassic, Pangaea rifted into two minor supercontinents, Laurasia and Gondwana. Baltica was part of the minor supercontinent Laurasia.
• ~Cretaceous, Baltica was part of the minor supercontinent Eurasia.
• ~Present, Baltica is part of the forming minor supercontinent Afro-Eurasia.

See also[link]

• Baltic Shield
• Baltic Plate

Vijay Iyer
Background information
Born	1971 Rochester, New York, USA
Genres	Jazz
Occupations	Musician, Composer, Producer
Instruments	Piano
Associated acts	Fieldwork
Website	vijay-iyer.com

Vijay Iyer is a jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, producer, electronic musician, and writer based in New York City.

Biography[link]

Born in Albany, New York in 1971 and raised in Rochester, New York, Vijay Iyer is the son of Indian Tamil immigrants to the US.^[1] He received 15 years of Western classical training on violin beginning at the age of 3. He began playing the piano by ear in his childhood, and is mostly self-taught on that instrument.^[2] Vijay was also exposed to some Carnatic classical and religious music in his youth. His high school years saw a growing interest in jazz. After completing an undergraduate degree in mathematics and physics at Yale University when he was 20, Iyer then went to the University of California, Berkeley initially to pursue a doctorate in physics. Iyer continued to pursue his musical interests, serving as the house pianist in jam sessions at the Bird Kage (a club in North Oakland) and playing in ensembles led by drummers E. W. Wainwright and Donald Bailey. In 1994 he started working with Steve Coleman and George E. Lewis and became associated with the musicians' collective Asian Improv. In 1995 he left the physics department and assembled an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Technology and the Arts, focusing on music cognition. His 1998 dissertation, titled Microstructures of Feel, Macrostructures of Sound: Embodied Cognition in West African and African-American Musics, applied the dual frameworks of embodied cognition and situated cognition to music.

Now an acclaimed New York-based jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and producer, he performs around the world with his ensembles and collaborations, including his Grammy-nominated trio with Stephan Crump and Marcus Gilmore; the experimental collective Fieldwork, featuring Steve Lehman and Tyshawn Sorey; the new South Asian chamber trio Tirtha, featuring guitarist Prasanna and tabla player Nitin Mitta; his large-scale works with poet-performer Mike Ladd; and Raw Materials, his longstanding duo with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa. His trio album Historicity was nominated for a 2010 Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Album, and was named #1 album of the year in many publications, including the Downbeat Magazine International Critics Poll, the Village Voice Annual Jazz Critics Poll, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Detroit Metro Times, PopMatters, and others. His trio won the 2010 Jazz Echo Award (aka the "German Grammy") for best international ensemble. Iyer was named the 2010 Musician of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association.

Building off of his work in the jazz world, Iyer has been active as a composer in other settings. In 2003, Iyer premiered his first collaboration with poet-producer-performer Mike Ladd, titled In What Language?, a song cycle about airports, fear and surveillance before and after 9/11, commissioned by Asia Society in New York and released as an award-winning cd on Pi Recordings. Iyer's next project with Ladd, Still Life with Commentator, a satirical oratorio about 24-hour news culture in a time of war, was co-commissioned by UNC-Chapel Hill and by Brooklyn Academy of Music for its 2006 Next Wave Festival, and was released on cd by Savoy Jazz. Their third major collaboration, Holding it Down, focuses on the dreams of young American veterans from the 21st century wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was commissioned by Harlem Stage to premiere in 2012.

Iyer's composition Mutations I-X was commissioned and premiered by Ethel (string quartet) in 2005. His orchestral work Interventions was commissioned and premiered in 2007 by the American Composers Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. Iyer co-created the award-winning score for Teza (2009), by the celebrated filmmaker Haile Gerima, and also collaborated with filmmaker Bill Morrison on the award-winning short film and audiovisual installation Release, commissioned by Eastern State Penitentiary (2009). In 2011 he created Mozart Effects, commissioned by Brentano String Quartet as a response to an unfinished fragment by Mozart, and he also created and performed the score to UnEasy, a ballet choreographed by Karole Armitage and commissioned by Central Park Summerstage. In 2012 the Silk Road Ensemble debuted his commissioned piece, Playlist for an Extreme Occasion.

Iyer received the 2003 Alpert Award in the Arts, a 2006 Fellowship from New York Foundation for the Arts, and commissioning grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, Creative Capital, the Cary Charitable Trust, American Composers Forum, Chamber Music America, and Meet The Composer. He was named one of the "50 most influential global Indians" by GQ India, and he received the 2010 India Abroad Publisher's Award for Special Excellence. He was awarded the 2012 Greenfield Prize for Music.

Iyer has worked with Amiri Baraka, Steve Coleman, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, dead prez, Amina Claudine Myers, Butch Morris, George E. Lewis, Miya Masaoka, Trichy Sankaran, Pamela Z, Burnt Sugar, Karsh Kale, Tyshawn Sorey, Oliver Lake, DJ Spooky, Das Racist, Ethel, Imani Winds, and many others. Iyer holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Physics from Yale College, and a Masters in Physics and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Technology and the Arts from the University of California, Berkeley.

Iyer is a faculty member at Manhattan School of Music, New York University, The New School, and the School for Improvisational Music.^[3] His writings appear in Music Perception, Current Musicology, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Critical Studies in Improvisation, Journal of the Society for American Music, JazzTimes, and the anthologies Uptown Conversation: The New Jazz Studies, Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture, Arcana IV, and The Best Writing on Mathematics 2010. He is a Steinway artist.

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• Memorophilia (1995, Asian Improv Records)
• Architextures (1998, Asian Improv / Red Giant Records)
• Panoptic Modes (2001, Red Giant Records)
• Your Life Flashes (2002, Pi Recordings) (as the trio Fieldwork)
• In What Language? (2003, Pi Recordings) (in collaboration with Mike Ladd)
• Blood Sutra (2003, Artist House)
• Reimagining (2005, Savoy Jazz)
• Simulated Progress (2005, Pi Recordings) (as the trio Fieldwork)
• Raw Materials (2006, Savoy Jazz) (in collaboration with Rudresh Mahanthappa)
• Still Life with Commentator (2007, Savoy) (in collaboration with Mike Ladd)
• Door (2008, Pi Recordings) (as the trio Fieldwork)
• Tragicomic (2008, Sunnyside)
• Historicity (2009, ACT Music + Vision)
• Solo (2010, ACT Music + Vision)
• Tirtha (2011, ACT Music + Vision)
• Accelerando (2012, ACT Music + Vision)

Compilations[link]

• MONK MIX: Remixes & interpretations of music by Meredith Monk (2012, The House Foundation)
• Talvin Singh, OK (deluxe edition) (2010, Island Records)
• Mendi + Keith Obadike present Crosstalk: American Speech Music (various artists), (2008, Bridge Records)
• Juncture (2004, Pi Recordings)

As sideman[link]

With Roscoe Mitchell

• Far Side (ECM, 2007)
• Song for my Sister (Pi, 2002)

With Wadada Leo Smith

• Spiritual Dimensions (Cuneiform, 2009)
• Tabligh (Cuneiform, 2008)
• Eclipse (concert film, 2005)

With Rudresh Mahanthappa

• Code Book (Pi, 2006)
• Mother Tongue (Pi, 2004)
• Black Water (Red Giant, 2002)

With Steve Coleman

• The Ascension to Light (BMG France, 1999)
• The Sonic Language of Myth (BMG France, 1998)
• Genesis (BMG France, 1997)
• Myths, Modes and Means: Live at Hot Brass, Paris (BMG France, 1995)

With Das Racist

• Sit Down, Man (Greedhead / Mad Decent, 2010)

With Amiri Baraka

• The Shani Project (Brown Sound International, 2004)

With Rez Abbasi

• Suno Suno (Enja, 2011)
• Things to Come (Sunnyside, 2009)

With Burnt Sugar

• Blood on the Leaf: Opus No. 1 (2000)
• That Depends on What You Know (2001)
• The Rites: Conductions Inspired by Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps (2003)
• Black Sex Yall Liberation & Bloody Random Violets (2003)
• Not April in Paris: Live from Banlieus Bleues (2004)
• If You Can't Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth (2005)
• More Than Posthuman: Rise of the Mojosexual Cotillion (2006)
• All Ya Needs That Negrocity (2011)

With Mike Ladd

• Mike Ladd Presents Father Divine (ROIR, 2005)
• Negrophilia: The Album (Thirsty Ear, 2005)
• The Nostalgialator (!K7, 2004)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Center for New Music and Audio Technologies
• Radio Interview on This Week in Science Nov 21, 2006 Broadcast
• "In Conversation with Vijay Iyer" by Tom Greenland (Jazz.com)
• Vijay Iyer at Pi Recordings
• "The Sound of Discovery: Conversation with Vijay Iyer" State of Mind - January 2011 (StateofMindMusic.com)
• "A Night with Vijay Iyer at UC Davis’s Mondavi Center" A Review by Seth Katz for nthWORD Magazine - February 9th, 2011 (nthWORD.com)
• Official site

He is currently associated with the band Wolf Gang Haffner.

Wolfgang Haffner, Feb 2010

Wolfgang Haffner (born 7 December 1965) is a German jazz drummer with an extensive discography.^[1]

Discography[link]

• 2009 – Round Silence
• 2008 – Acoustic Shapes
• 2007 – Metro Express
• 2006 – Abracadabra: Celebrating Klaus Doldinger (with Roberto di Gioia & Dieter Ilg)
• 2006 – Shapes (Produced with Nils Landgren)
• 2004 – ZOOMING
• 2004 – Funky Abba (with Nils Landgren)
• 2003 – Music For Jazz Orchestra (with Albert Mangelsdorff and the NDR-Big-Band)
• 2002 – Live & Real
• 2002 – Grapevine (with Metro)
• 2002 – When The Angels Swing (with „No Angels“)
• 2001 – Urban Life
• 2000 – The German Jazz Masters Old Friends
• 2000 – Metrocafe (with Metro)
• 2000 – Swing Low Sweet Clarinet (with Eddie Daniels and hr-Big-Band)
• 1999 – Love (with Till Brönner)
• 1999 – Music
• 1998 – Zappelbude (with Roberto Di Gioia)
• 1998 – Celtic Moon (with Miller Anderson)
• 1997 – All the April Snow (with Peter Bolte)
• 1997 – Back Home
• 1996 – Beautiful Love (with Eddie Daniels)
• 1996 – One Kiss (with Carmen Cuesta)
• 1995 – Tree People (with Metro)
• 1994 – Metro (with Metro)
• 1992 – Movin‘ On
• 1990 – Balance of Happiness (with Klaus Doldingers Passport)
• 1987 – Al Cohn meets Al Porcino (with Al Cohn)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wolfgang Haffner

• Wolfgang Haffner website - biography, discography, tour dates, news, gallery, etc.

References[link]

This article about a German musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article about a jazz drummer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner in 1973
Background information
Birth name	Alfred McCoy Tyner
Born	(1938-12-11) December 11, 1938 (age 73)
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres	Hard bop Cuban jazz Modal jazz Mainstream jazz Post bop
Occupations	Musician Composer Bandleader
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1960–present
Labels	Impulse! Blue Note Milestone Telarc
Associated acts	John Coltrane Joe Henderson
Website	http://mccoytyner.com

McCoy Tyner (born December 11, 1938)^[1] is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Tyner was born Alfred McCoy Tyner in Philadelphia as the oldest of three children. He was encouraged to study piano by his mother. He began studying the piano at age 13 and within two years music had become the focal point in his life. His early influences included Bud Powell, a Philadelphia neighbor. When he was 17, he converted to Islam through the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and changed his name to Sulieman Saud.^[3]

Early career[link]

Tyner's first main exposure came with Benny Golson, being the first pianist in Golson's and Art Farmer's legendary Jazztet (1960). After departing the Jazztet, Tyner joined Coltrane's group in 1960 during its extended run at the Jazz Gallery replacing Steve Kuhn. (Coltrane had known Tyner for a while in Philadelphia, and featured one of the pianist's compositions, "The Believer", as early as 1958.) He appeared on the saxophonist's popular recording of "My Favorite Things" for Atlantic Records. The Coltrane Quartet, which consisted of Coltrane on tenor sax, Tyner, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums, toured almost non-stop between 1961 and 1965 and recorded a number of classic albums, including Live at the Village Vanguard, Ballads, Live at Birdland, Crescent, A Love Supreme, and The John Coltrane Quartet Plays ..., on the Impulse! label.

Tyner has recorded a number of highly influential albums in his own right. While in Coltrane's group, he recorded a series of important albums (primarily in the piano trio format) for Impulse! Records.^[1] The pianist also appeared as a sideman in many of the highly acclaimed Blue Note Records albums of the 1960s, although was often credited as "etc." on the cover of these albums (when listing the sidemen on the album) in order to respect his contractual obligations at Impulse Records.^[1]

"The jazz is my life, my wife, my love."

His involvement with John Coltrane came to an end in 1965. Coltrane's music was becoming much more atonal and free; he had also augmented his quartet with percussion players who threatened to drown out both Tyner and Jones. This seemed to add to his drive and character about wanting to make music his own and unique. Tyner was somewhat bitter about the change in Coltrane's direction: "I didn't see myself making any contribution to that music... All I could hear was a lot of noise. I didn't have any feeling for the music, and when I don't have feelings, I don't play."^[4] By 1966, Tyner was rehearsing with a new trio and would now fully embark on his career as a leader.^[5]

Post-Coltrane[link]

McCoy Tyner, Keystone Korner, San Francisco CA, March 1981 (photo: Brian McMillen)

After leaving Coltrane's group, Tyner produced a series of post-bop albums released on Blue Note Records from 1967 to 1970 which included The Real McCoy (1967), Tender Moments (1967), Time for Tyner (1968), Expansions (1968) and Extensions (1970). Soon thereafter he moved to the Milestone label and recorded many influential albums, including Sahara (1972), Enlightenment (1973), and Fly with the Wind (1976), which featured flautist Hubert Laws, drummer Billy Cobham, and a string orchestra. His music for Blue Note and Milestone often took the Coltrane quartet's music as a point of departure and also incorporated African and East Asian musical elements. On Sahara, for instance, Tyner plays koto, in addition to piano, flute, and percussion. These albums are often cited as examples of vital, innovative jazz from the 1970s that was neither fusion nor free jazz. Trident (1975) is notable for featuring Tyner on harpsichord (rarely heard in jazz) and celeste, in addition to his primary instrument, piano.

Tyner still records and tours regularly and played from the 1980s through '90s with a trio that included Avery Sharpe on bass and first Louis Hayes, then Aaron Scott, on drums. He made a trio of solo recordings for Blue Note, starting with Revelations (1988) and culminating with Soliloquy (1991). Today Tyner records for the Telarc label and has been playing with different trios, one of which has included Charnett Moffett on bass and Al Foster on drums. In 2008, Tyner toured with his quartet, which featured saxophonist Gary Bartz with Gerald Cannon (bass) and Eric Kamau Gravatt (drums).

McCoy was also a judge for the 6th and 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.^[6]

Style[link]

McCoy Tyner with Ravi Coltrane

Tyner's style of piano is easily comparable to Coltrane's maximalist style of saxophone.^[1] Though a member of Coltrane's group, he was never overshadowed by the saxophonist, but complemented and even inspired Coltrane's open-minded approach.^[1] Tyner is considered to be one of the most influential jazz pianists of the 20th century, an honor he earned both with Coltrane and in his years of performing following Coltrane's death.^[1]

Though playing instruments of vastly different versatility, both Tyner and Coltrane utilize similar scales, chordal structures, melodic phrasings, and rhythms. Tyner's playing can be distinguished by a low bass left hand, in which he tends to raise his arm relatively high above the keyboard for an emphatic attack; the fact that Tyner is left-handed may contribute to this distinctively powerful style. Tyner's unique right-hand soloing is recognizable for a detached, or staccato, quality. His melodic vocabulary is rich, ranging from raw blues to complexly superimposed pentatonic scales; his unique approach to chord voicing (most characteristically by fourths) has influenced a wide array of contemporary jazz pianists, most notably Chick Corea. Other instruments included the Appalachian dulcimer.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: McCoy Tyner

• Tyner Interview
• McCoy Tyner Official Homepage
• Podcast featuring interview with McCoy Tyner (Audio) originally broadcast on WKCR 89.9 FM-NY
• McCoy Tyner at Jazz Resource Center
• McCoy Tyner Sessionography
• NEA Jazz Masters Biography
• McCoy Tyner recent live concert review
• McCoy Tyner Trio with Gary Bartz 2011 Concert Review
• McCoy Tyner 1959-60 Music Guide
• McCoy Tyner 1960-61 Music Guide
• McCoy Tyner 1961 Music Guide

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2011)

Dave Holland
Background information
Born	(1946-10-01) October 1, 1946 (age 65) Wolverhampton, Staffordshire England United Kingdom
Genres	Jazz, avant-garde, jazz fusion
Occupations	Musician, composer, bandleader
Instruments	Double bass, bass guitar, cello, ukulele
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Dare2
Associated acts	Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Circle, Anthony Braxton, Kenny Wheeler, Gateway, Chris Potter
Website	Dave Holland.com

Dave Holland (born October 1, 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years.^[1]

His work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005. He has explained his musical philosophy by quoting fellow jazz artist Sam Rivers. "Sam said, ‘Don’t leave anything out — play all of it,’ ”

Holland has played with some of the greatest names in jazz, and has participated in several classic recording sessions.

Biography[link]

Born in Wolverhampton, England, 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 his profession in a top 40 band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought 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 traded in his bass guitar for an acoustic bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.

After moving to London in 1964, Holland played acoustic bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a fulltime scholarship for the three-year program. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London’s premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonist Evan Parker, reedsman John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's classic 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continues today.

With Miles Davis[link]

In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he couldn't return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).

Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion.^{[citation needed]} In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis's music became increasingly electronic, amp-based and funky.

Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who would appear only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and Jack DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson would replace Holland.

Post-Davis and the 1970s[link]

After leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle with Chick Corea, Barry Altschul and Anthony Braxton. This started a 34-year association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500 line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.

Holland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. He worked with reed player Anthony Braxton, appearing on several important studio and live recordings from 1972 to 1976. Holland recorded several important albums with Braxton – including "New York, Fall 1974" (1974) and "Five Pieces (1975)" – that were released on Arista Records. His performances with Braxton also were documented on live recordings such as "Quartet (Dortmund)" (1976) and "Town Hall 1972" (1972), originally released on the Swiss Hat Hut label.^[2] Holland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, he appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.

The 1980s[link]

Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin’ In, Seeds of Time, and Razor’s Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester. Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.

The bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with legendary figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer (album).

The 1990s and 2000s[link]

During the ‘90s, he renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, Porgy & Bess, and Joe Henderson Big Band. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock’s band again in 1996. (More recently, he was part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy for Album of the Year.)

As a leader, Holland formed his third quartet – and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland also formed his current quintet, which includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings to date are Points of View, Not for Nothin, Prime Directive, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy award as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), was released on Holland's own Dare2 record label and again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category.

Holland’s work with the group won wide public recognition that year. He won Downbeat's Critics Poll for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalist’s Association also honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the prestigious Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Also in 2005, Holland formed Dare2 Records, an independent record label that allowed him to have more control over his recordings. Besides Overtime, the label has released the quintet recording Critical Mass (2006) and the sextet recording Pass It On (2008). Pathways, the debut recording of Holland’s octet, was released on March 23, 2010. On October 5, 2010, Holland released Hands, a studio album featuring flamenco guitarist Pepe Habichuela.

In 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called The Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.

Off the bandstand, Holland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory (Boston), where he held a fulltime teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music (Boston); and Birmingham Conservatoire (Birmingham, England). He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982-'89, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK based National Youth Jazz Collective.

Holland currently resides in upstate New York.

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• 1971 - Music from Two Basses (with Barre Phillips) - ECM
• 1972 - Conference of the Birds - ECM
• 1976 - Dave Holland / Sam Rivers - Improvising Artists
• 1976 - Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 - Improvising Artists
• 1977 - Emerald Tears (double bass solo) - ECM
• 1982 - Life Cycle (cello solo) - ECM
• 1983 - Jumpin' In - ECM
• 1984 - Seeds of Time - ECM
• 1987 - The Razor's Edge - ECM
• 1988 - Triplicate - ECM
• 1990 - Extensions - ECM
• 1993 - Ones All - Intuition
• 1995 - Dream of the Elders - ECM
• 1998 - Points of View - ECM
• 1999 - Prime Directive - ECM
• 2001 - Not for Nothin' - ECM
• 2002 - What Goes Around (with Big Band) - ECM
• 2003 - Extended Play: Live at Birdland - ECM
• 2005 - Overtime - Dare2
• 2006 - Critical Mass - Dare2
• 2007 - Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival
• 2008 - Pass It On - Dare2
• 2010 - Pathways - Dare2
• 2010 - Hands (with Pepe Habichuela) - Dare2

With Gateway

• Gateway (ECM, 1975)
• Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)
• Homecoming (ECM, 1994)
• In the Moment (ECM, 1994)

With Scolohofo

• Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)

Compilation:

• Rarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)

As sideman[link]

With Claudia Acuna

• Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)

With Norman Blake, Tut Taylor, Sam Bush, Butch Robins, Vassar Clements and Jethro Burns

• Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (Flying Fish, 1976)

With George Adams

• Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)

With Anouar Brahem

• Thimar (ECM, 1997)

With Anthony Braxton

• Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)
• New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)
• Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)
• Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
• Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1976 [1991])
• The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1975-6)

With Michael Brecker

• Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)

With Betty Carter

• Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)

With Steve Coleman

• Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)
• Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991) Duo recording
• Black Science (Novus/BMG, 1991)
• Rhythm in Mind (Novus/BMG, 1991)

With Chick Corea

• Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)
• Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)
• The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)
• A.R.C. (ECM, 1971)

With Circle

• Circling In (1970)
• Circulus (1970)
• Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert (1970)
• Paris Concert (1971)
• Circle 2: Gathering (1971)

With Miles Davis

• Filles de Kilimanjaro (1968)
• In a Silent Way (1969)
• 1969 Miles - Festival de Juan Pins (1969)
• Bitches Brew (1969)
• Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (1970)
• Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (1970)
• Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (1970)
• Live-Evil (1970)
• Big Fun (1969–1972)

With Bill Frisell

• With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)

With Laszlo Gardony

• The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)

With Herbie Hancock

• River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)

With Billy Hart

• Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)

With John Hartford

• Morning Bugle (Warner Bros., 1972)
• Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1988)

With Joe Henderson

• So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles) (1993)

With Lee Konitz

• Satori (1974)

With Joe Lovano

• Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)

With Pat Metheny (and Roy Haynes

• Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990)

With Sam Rivers

• Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)
• Waves (Tomato, 1978)
• Contrasts (ECM, 1981)

With Tomasz Stańko

• Balladyna (ECM, 1976)

With Collin Walcott

• Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)

With Kenny Wheeler

• Gnu High (ECM, 1975)
• Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)
• Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)
• Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)
• Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)
• The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)
• Angel Song (ECM, 1997)
• What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)

Filmography[link]

As a leader[link]

• 2000 - DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny - Live in Concert
• 2005 - Dave Holland Quintet - Live in Freiburg
• 2009 - Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex
• 2009 - Dave Holland Quintet - Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986

As a sideman[link]

• 1992 - Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo!)
• 2001 - Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)
• 2004 - Murray Lerner: Miles Electric - A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) - about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dave Holland

• Official website
• Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews
• Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com
• Audio Interview with Dave Holland
• Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net
• Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News
• Dave Holland at All About Jazz
• Discography on Discogs