Critical Mass

Dave Holland | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 29, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sunny Side
• ASIN: B000GNOSEU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,002 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

For years now, there has been no more proficient working band in jazz than the Dave Holland Quintet. Like such precursors as the Jazztet and the Jazz Messengers, it balances songcraft and improvisation with consummate ease. And the seasoned frontline of saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and vibraphonist Steve Nelson goes beyond the usual tag-team solos in engaging in complex time schemes and coloristic shifts, extending themes and partaking of overlapping lines. Critical Mass boasts some of the band's catchiest tunes while showcasing its fondness for mussing up their clean foundations with free-spirited exchanges before restoring civility. The material ranges from bassist Holland's Middle Eastern-tinged "Secret Garden" to drummer Nate Smith's hip-hoppy "The Leak." Powerfully contained on tenor, Potter sounds like he's been listening to the great, departed Steve Lacy on soprano while Nelson plays up his percussive skills on marimba. If the album doesn't have the excitement of past efforts, that's partly because Smith, as strong as he is, doesn't have the sudden explosiveness of his precedessor, Billy Kilson. Perhaps, too, the band has settled a bit into familiar patterns. Still, this is a class act. --Lloyd Sachs

Product Description

Following up on his 2005 Grammy win for Overtime, Dave Holland returns with Critical Mass, the new album from the critic and fan favorite Dave Holland Quintet. The album features all of the original members including Chris Potter (saxes), Steve Nelson (vibes), Robin Eubanks (trombone) as well as new member Nate Smith (drums). The album includes 4 new Holland compositions as well as one from each of the band members. Critical Mass sounds like an album made by a group of world-class musicians that have performed together for nearly a decade. Great tunes and interplay that borders on musical telepathy. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Higher up and deeper in, September 2, 2006

By 

Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Critical Mass (Audio CD)

The Dave Holland Quintet is among the best jazz outfits ever assembled, and Critical Mass tops anything they've achieved before.

A typical jazz quintet save for Steve Nelson on vibes instead of the usual pianist, that substitution makes all the difference in the world, giving this group a kind of airy, open sensibility freeing the players for both smart ensemble interaction, but also creating a kind of loosey-goosey, free-wheeling vibe that seems to encourage and bring out their best solo efforts, notably exemplified by Nelson's stunning work on the bloozy "Easy Did It."

I've never been a huge fan of Chris Potter on sax; his tone has always struck me as slightly grating. But here he plays with, strangely, both more control and more animation than I've ever heard from him before--and with a slightly mellowed tone that is beginning to win me over. And it must be admitted, whatever one thinks of his tone, that he masterfully constructs solos of admirable power and architecture. Check out his extended chorus on "Vicissitudes" to see what I mean. Kevin Eubanks on trombone makes a perfect front-line partner. Their uncanny interplay on "Vicissitudes," the second strongest of eight very strong pieces, is worth the price of admission. With Steve Turre, Eubanks ranks at the very top of current jazz trombonists. Listen to his snaky solo statement on "Leak" for a taste of his vast abilities. Newcomer Nate Smith on drums fits in perfectly. Exhibiting huge chops lightly worn, he cooks up some very tasty percussive moves in tandem with leader Holland on (again) "Vicissitudes." With other young monsters Eric Harland, Terreon Gulley, and Ari Hoenig, he insures the future of jazz drumming will be in very good hands for decades to come. Vibes player Nelson sounds very energized, spinning off challenging yet very attractive solo statements ("Easy Did It" and "Leak") and comping like a madman. He must now be considered one of the very top jazz vibraphonists alive.

Leader Holland, besides putting this group together, writing half the tunes, and establishing a rock-solid foundation on his instrument, is the absolute master of the engaging bass solo, something almost never pulled off. Somehow he manages to combine virtuosity with impeccable tone and a kind of lilting joyousness where other bassists often go for a more ponderous approach. That he does it primarily in the lower to middle registers of his instrument makes it all the more brilliant. I think he also picks the right vehicles for soloing--the lighter Latin-jazz pieces, although he's not limited to those.

The tunes are all incredibly strong and cover the jazz waterfront. My favorite is a bit of world-jazz exotica, "Secret Garden," with its mysterious Middle Eastern vibe which elicits some very fine group interaction and a stunningly delicate yet sinuous solo from Chris Potter, attractively undergirt by Nelson's vibes, Smith's Kasbah percussion, and some poignant bass stylings from Holland.

I came to this disc with great expectations, and it has, remarkably, exceeded them. Highest recommendation.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Geniuses -- What Would You Expect, September 7, 2006

By 

Jeff Putterman "Jazz is my Religion" (The Apple) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Critical Mass (Audio CD)

The Dave Holland Quintet, in this version, has been together for what I believe is almost ten years (with the substitution of Nate Smith for Billy Kilson). The history, respect, support and love shows through here.

I am a big fan of each of these musicians as individuals, and as composers. As members of this group, they are selfless, which is almost remarkable. But considering how deeply musical they all are, I guess that is not surprising.

Having seen this band live many times, I can only add that when you have heard one virtually unbelievable solo, and think things can't get any better, you are wrong. Five geniuses, in a working band, is something that occurs rarely. Think of Miles with Wayne Shorter, or Blakey's combos, or the Benny Goodman Quartet.

If you dig this music, you must have this cd!!

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another feather in their cap, September 1, 2006

By 

Timothy G. Niland (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Critical Mass (Audio CD)

Critical Mass is the first studio album in four years from what has become the premier working group in modern jazz, the Dave Holland Quintet. After a few early changes, the band's personnel has stabilized with Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor and soprano saxophones, Robin Eubanks on trombone, Steve Nelson on vibraphone and marimba, and Nate Smith on drums. The album begins with "The Eyes Have It," featuring the group's always wonderful near-telepathic interplay and a strong and confident tenor saxophone solo from Chris Potter. "Easy Did It" is one of the discs highlights, starting with a mellow beginning and then building in tempo and intensity with some nice trombone soloing over vibes and drums, moving to an extremely hip vibraphone and drums duet before ending with an intense collective improvisation with Pottter on soprano saxophone anchored by some amazing drumming from Nate Smith.

"Vicissitudes" has some more impressive soloing from Chris Potter and a cool sounding vibes solo from Steve Nelson, and a funky drum and bass interlude. "Sacred Garden" takes on a Middle Eastern flavor, an area the group has explored successfully before. "Lucky 7" has a nice stuttering theme breaking out into a strong trombone solo. The most revelatory aspect of this album is the drumming of Nate Smith who is really becoming a star with his complex, yet funky drumming on this record. Combined with the shimmering and percussive quality of Nelson's vibes and marimba, the band becomes a rhythmic powerhouse. For the twenty-first century, this band has been the state of the art in modern mainstream jazz and proof that working groups make the most coherent records. This is yet another feather in their cap.