Bringin' On the Big Band

 Dave Holland to perform at Jazz'S Alive

Dave Holland still plays the same number of strings he started with, but the size of the instrument and the resumé have grown considerably.

"I lived with my grandparents, my mom and my uncle. There was a ukulele craze in England for a while after World War II so my uncle played one. I saw him and went into the cupboard where he kept it, took it down and started banging around on it," Holland said, laughing.

Instead of upbraiding the kid, Holland's uncle showed him some chords. From the uke, Holland moved to guitar and then to bass.

Holland's bass prowess, and his talents as a band leader and composer, will bring him to the Bud Light Jazz'SAlive main stage Saturday at 9:30 p.m. where he and his big band will close day one of the two-day free jazz festival in Travis Park.

Holland will be joined by Jonathan Arons, Robin Eubanks and Josh Roseman (trombones), Duane Eubanks, Taylor Haskins and Alex Sipiagin (trumpets), Mark Gross, Antonio Hart, Chris Potter and Gary Smulyan (saxophones), Steve Nelson (marimba, vibraphone) and Nate Smith (drums).

The Dave Holland Big Band won a Grammy last year for the "Overtime" CD. Holland's latest CD, "Critical Mass," a quintet album, also features Smith, Robin Eubanks, Nelson and Potter.

Holland, born and raised in Wolverhampton, England, turned professional at 15, dropped out of school, played in Top 40 bands and then fell under the spell of recordings by jazz bassists Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Holland then bought an acoustic bass, moved to London, took lessons from the principal bassist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, continued his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and played jazz ranging from New Orleans traditional to contemporary. In 1968, his life changed again.

"Miles (Davis) heard me and brought me to New York," he said.

By the time the storied trumpet giant heard Holland, the bassist had worked with top-flight British jazz musicians and touring American jazz artists. Holland worked with Davis for a couple of years during the "Bitches Brew" era and then struck out on his own.

"It was a bit of a shock to move to the States," he said, "but it was something I had planned to do. When I got the offer from Miles, it was an opportunity that I couldn't think about not doing. I thought if I only lasted a week it would be an experience and I'd learn something."

Holland has learned lots of lessons well. Bass-playing jazz bandleaders are not exactly unheard of, but bands led by melody players such as pianists, trumpeters and saxophonists are far more common.

"A spectacular saxophonist can stand in front of a mediocre rhythm section and make music," Holland said. "But a bass player has to have very good musicians. I look for the best players I can find. As a bass player and a bandleader you have to prove yourself, but that's the case with any band. The bass has a very influential presence. It's subtle, but it can influence the direction of a band. There's security in having a good bass player on the bandstand."

The "Overtime" and "Critical Mass" CDs feature compositions by Holland and other members of the bands.

"I do a fair amount of practicing and I think about composition a lot," Holland said. "I make notes and, when it's time to write, I really hit it for 10 or 12 hours a day. I compose largely on the piano but I write some things away from any instrument."

Something else that helps with Holland's material is that it's played by musicians who work with Holland a lot.

"The concepts we're building on are similar. They're coming from the same source," he said. "But the realization of the songs are different. There are more colors and more written material with the big band. The small group is like a sports car. There's a lot of space for the musicians to play. There's more room to improvise. I love the traditional big band, but want to present contemporary music in this context. You've got to keep it relevant to the times we live in."