In time for International Jazz Day comes an amazing album. Accomplished double bassist Dave Holland's career spans the 1960s till date during which time he has evolved his sound from post-bop to free jazz, fusion and the avant-garde. Having played the bass on Miles Davis's seminal jazz rock albums, ‘In A Silent Way’ and ‘Bitches Brew’ and collaborating with Chick Corea in ‘Circle’, he also recorded several albums as a band leader in the 1970s including an excellent display of the avant-garde and free jazz in his 1972 magnificent record, ‘Conference of the Birds’.

Supported by legends of the genre including Barry Altschul on drums and Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers on reeds, flute, clarinet and saxophone this album remains in the top echelon of the avant-garde/free jazz genre and is a "desert island disc" for the author.

The album starts off with Four Winds with all four musicians at sway with Holland's exploratory bass shepherding the track leading into an excellent interplay in Q & A and completing the side with the title tune. The second side starts off with Interception which immediately sets the pace with a furious blowing on the horns by both Braxton and Rivers and an excellent drum solo by Altschul. Now Here (Nowhere) starts off with a slow saxophone and bass with a few drum beats and culminates the record with the faster paced (and most jazziest of the tunes) See-Saw.

Dave Holland is the composer on all of the music on this classic and timeless jazz record (released on ECM), a "must have" for the serious jazz collector and is a great representation of improvisation and the interplay between all musicians (there is no piano throughout the record!) who are at their peak of their skills.

Tracklist:

Four Winds (6:33)

Q & A (8:32)

Conference Of The Birds (4:34)

Interception (8:21)

Now Here (Nowhere) (4:33)

See-Saw (6:41)

Personnel Dave Holland (bass)

Barry Altschul (drums, percussion)

Anthony Braxton (Clarinet, Flute Reeds (Multiple), Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano))

Sam Rivers (Flute, Reeds (Multiple), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor))

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Juzer Kopti

Juzer Kopti, originally from Bombay and now based in the suburbs of Washington DC, is a music enthusiast who enjoys crate digging for rare records, his taste in music tends towards 60s-70s psychedelia, folk, rock, jazz, fusion and progressive and also enjoys collecting fountain pens, vintage cameras and mechanical watches.