Sunday, 29 September 2002
Tonight (Saturday) I saw the Dave Holland Big Band at Yoshi’s. The group sounds like an expanded version of the Quintet Holland has been recording with regularly for several years, on recordings including Points of View (1998), Prime Directive (1999), and Not For Nothin’ (2001), which I bought after seeing the group at Stanford last November. Billy Kilson (drums), Steve Nelson (vibes) and Robin Eubanks (trombone) are on those records and were some of the anchors of the group aside from Holland himself. Holland looked and sounded like he was having the time of his life. Kilson began his dramatic solo with a series of polyrhythms that sounded like he was slowing way down despite there being a rock-steady quarter note pulse. Nelson’s solo on “Blues for C.M.” (Charles Mingus) was a wonderful contrast between simple blues-inflected phrases, punctuated with an intense rhythmic precision, and intricate runs. Antonio Hart played one gorgeous, gutsy, solo and was shaking his head and smiling in appreciation later as the tenor man next to him played a winding, lyrical solo that was the highlight of the set for many in the audience, judging from their reaction. (Unfortunately I didn’t catch his name and am not sure he’s on the group’s CD.) The ensemble playing of the wind instruments was very together and dynamic, beautifully phrased. Great tunes and arrangements, several from their 2002 ECM release, What Goes Around.
