Jack DeJohnette : One of Jazz Music's Greatest Drummers

Jack DeJohnette 

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La panoplie du basssite Dave Holland s'étend au Flamenco

Voici du nouveau dans la longue carrière de Dave Holland : son association avec Pepe Habichuela, guitariste andalou, une des très grandes figures du flamenco, de la même génération que Paco de Lucia.
Ce n'est pas la première fois que le Britannique, enlevé par Miles Davis en 1968, et resté deux ans dans son orchestre, s'intéresse à la fusion du jazz et de la world music. La fusion, il connaît, puisque c'est chez Miles qu'il passa de la contrebasse à la basse électrique, pour faire ensuite retour à la double bass.
Définitivement installé aux Etats-Unis, il n'a cessé de s'ouvrir aux musiques du monde, comme en témoigne, notamment, Thimar (ECM, 1999), où il joue avec Anouar Brahem à l'oud et John Surman au sax.

Hands est une exceptionnelle réussite, parce que Dave Holland, sans abandonner le son et le phrasé qui font de lui un immense jazzman, y apprend littéralement le flamenco gitan des mains d'un maître qui avait déjà dialogué avec Don Cherry. Fans de jazz ou amoureux du cante jondo, du chant profond de la guitare andalouse, nous sommes comblés. Par la musique, tout simplement.

Dave Holland Jazz bassist Dave Holland (left) and flamenco guitarist Pepe Habichuela spent three years recording Hands, their new album..." Hands "

Dave Holland:

"On a joué ensemble pour la première fois en 2007. On a répété avant de donner un concert à Séville à l'invitation de Manuel Ferrand, le responsable du programme musical du Département Culture de l'Andalousie. J'avais rencontré Manuel quelques années auparavant; il avait présenté un concert et un atelier pour moi à Séville, et il m'a appris qu'il avait un projet: il voulait que des artistes jazz et flamenco puissent travailler ensemble. Il a demandé à Mario Pacheco de lui recommander quelqu'un - Mario est un grand amateur de musique flamenco, et il dirige le label Nuevos Medios - et sans hésiter Mario lui a suggéré le nom de Pepe. On a commencé avec quatre jours de répétition et un concert, et puis on a donné des concerts à Grenade et à Malaga. Aux répétitions j'avais demandé à Pepe de m'apprendre sa musique; il a accepté de bonne grâce et avec beaucoup de patience il m'a présenté son univers musical. Cette musique est profondément spirituelle, et avec le temps je devenais comme ivre de sa grande émotion et beauté. Pepe et sa femme Amparo m'ont accueilli avec ma femme Clare au sein de leur grande famille, et nous avons vu à quel point cette musique traduit la vie et l'histoire de son peuple."

Dave Holland and Spanish guitar legend Pepe Habichuela have come together to unfold the beauty of flamenco on Hands with collaborative takes on traditional and original compositions that let Holland’s bass to sing with a new kind of soul.

3 Extraits de l'Album "Hands"

 

Produced by Dave Holland
Personnel: Dave Holland, bass, Pepe Habichuela, guitar, Josemi Carmona, guitar, Carlos Carmona, guitar, Israel Porrina (Piraña), Cajón and Percussion, Juan Carmona, Cajón and Percussion, Recorded at CATA Studio, Madrid, March 16-20, 2009, Engineer, José Luis Crespo.

Hands (Fandango De Huelva)

Subi La Cuesta (Tangos)

The Whirling Dervish

Le concert du "Dave Holland Flamenco" avec le légendaire guitariste de flamenco Pepe Habichuela au North Sea Jazz Festival 2010

Pourquoi ne pas commencer sa journée par un Dave Holland Solo? La Tonalité Contre Basse Tout en finesse & fermeté

During his nearly 50-year career, Dave Holland has appeared on, he figures, roughly 200 albums.(AFP Photography)

Jazz bassist Dave Holland is known for the lyricism of his playing, for his mentoring of younger players and for his humility as a bandleader. 

Holland began his career in England as a teenager and moved to the U.S. on the promise of a gig with Miles Davis. 

Since then, he's stayed put on these shores, developing a solid career as a jazz bassist's bassist and releasing a prodigious stream of albums.

Dave Holland Octet Pathways JazzTimes - April, 2010

As Holland has done in virtually everyone of his previous bands, he provides a platform for his Pathways colleagues to realize an individual and collective sense of purpose and cooperation. The resulting spirit of generosity, of selflessly yet emphatically serving each composition, pays off from start to finish on the seven song album (fine penned by Holland), which Edit clocks in at over 75 minutes but doesn't contain a single extraneous note or gesture. Miles and Mingus would be proud.

Produced by Dave Holland Personnel: Antonio Hart (Alto Sax and Flute), Chris Potter (Tenor Sax and Soprano Sax), Gary Smulyan (Baritone Sax), Alex "Sasha" Sipiagin (Trumpet & Flugelhorn), Robin Eubanks (Trombone), Steve Nelson (Vibraphone and Marimba), Dave Holland (bass), Nate Smith (drums)

The album was recorded live at New York City's Birdland jazz club. Holland returned to New York’s Birdland - the site of Extended Play, his last live album - to record this latest effort.

Dave Holland Octet Pathways

 

Says Holland, 

" I had always loved the sound of the Duke Ellington small groups, often with a five horn front-line plus the rhythm section. The combination of two brass and three saxes gives access to a wide range of textures and colors and allows a composer to evoke the sound of a big band or create the more intimate sound of a small group. I also wanted a project that would include at its core my regular working quintet and build the music around what we had already developed as a small group."

My Octet's debut recording, Pathways, comes out at the end of March [3/23] but I actually formed the group in 2001 for a tour of Britain that was sponsored by the British Arts Council.  I had always loved the sound of the Duke Ellington small groups, often with a 5 horn front-line plus the rhythm section. The combination of 2 brass and 3 saxes gives access to a wide range of textures and colors and allows a composer to evoke the sound of a big band or create the more intimate sound of a small group.
I also wanted a project that would include at it’s core my regular working quintet (Robin Eubanks, Steve Nelson, Chris Potter, and Nate Smith) and build the music around what we had already developed as a small group.  The additional horns gave me some different compositional options but equally important, the personal sound, style and creative approaches of Antonio Hart (alto), Gary Smulyan (baritone) and Alex Sipiagin (trumpet) add a great deal to the creative mix.
For those that have followed my recording career, know that I often revisit compositions I have recorded at different stages in my career.    Over the years, one of the things that has changed is my approach to playing them. Writing the song is just a starting point and after that the improvisor develops different ways of interpreting it. There are some compositions that seem to remain relevant and that continue to evolve. On Pathways, I chose two older pieces, "Shadow Dance" and "How's Never?" The former was on Jumpin In', my debut recording with my first working band over 25 years ago. The latter I first played with the Gateway trio with Jack DeJohnette and  John Abercrombie.

"How's Never"

Extrait (13"03min.)