Ken Laster has a Dave Holland special with a lot of a lot of Holland's music and an interview. I am very jealous. Ken gets to talk to Dave Holland. For some reason, we don't get a lot of great jazz men stopping in Aberdeen, South Dakota. But listening to Holland discuss his experience with Miles Davis was priceless. One common theme you get when Miles' sidemen discuss his leadership is that of minimal input. Miles was apparently very good at directing his players in a way that brought out their individual talents without in any way limiting their individual genius.
Ken's interview with Holland is very good. The question he asks about composing, do you write a bass line first and then compose around it, is just what I would have asked him. The answer is what I would have hoped for: he wrote for the people he had in mind to play the parts. Jazz is personal in that sense. I was especially interested in Holland's comments on the role of the bass in a jazz combo. If you like jazz, and like to think about what you are hearing, this interview is right down your street.
In this modern age I do get to listen to Dave Holland's music. I posted recently on Holland and his great album Conference of the Birds. Today I acquired another Holland recording, Points of View. Here is a sample:
Dave Holland Quintet/The Balance/Points of View
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