Pass It On

Dave Holland | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Emarcy / Pgd
• ASIN: B001C5ZR5A
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,835 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

There is a great and long-standing aural tradition in jazz in which elders convey the very essence of the music--those extramusical things that go well beyond the notes--to apprentices as a means of preserving the art. Indeed, that tradition of music-making goes back to the griots and drum choirs of ancient West Africa and has permeated every generation of jazz since Buddy Bolden and King Oliver "passed it on" to Louis Armstrong. On Pass It On, his latest recording as a leader, the Grammy-winning bassist-composer Dave Holland is solidly in that number. Says the perennial poll-winner of the title track of his third recording on his Dare2 imprint (distributed by Universal Music): "That's a piece I wrote for Ed Blackwell. And the reason I called it `Pass It On' is because Ed was a great teacher as well as a great player. He could do a wonderful workshop about the history of the drums from Baby Dodds to Jo Jones and the whole way. I always thought of him as being a great carrier of the tradition and passing that tradition on to other people. So after he passed away, I wanted to write a piece to celebrate his memory and his great work." A remarkably interactive recording that organically melds advanced contrapuntal writing and wide open improvisation, Pass It On showcases Holland's new sextet featuring trombonist Robin Eubanks (a longtime member of Dave's working quintet), alto saxophonist Antonio Hart and trumpeter Alex "Sasha" Sipiagin (both members of Holland's acclaimed big band), veteran pianist Mulgrew Miller (a former Jazz Messenger and sideman in the Woody Shaw Quintet and Tony Williams Quintet), and the in-demand young drummer Eric Harland (a former member of the Joshua Redman Trio and the Kurt Rosenwinkel Group who also currently works with Charles Lloyd's quartet and the SF Jazz Collective).

This stellar sextet debuted at the beginning of 2006 and subsequently did a number of performances before going into the studio to document their rare chemistry. As Holland explains, "I did a week of showcase presentations at Birdland where I presented four different projects--we did the quintet, the big band, a duo with [vibraphonist] Steve Nelson, and we debuted the sextet at that presentation. I had played with all the horn players before but played only infrequently with Eric and Mulgrew. I recorded with Mulgrew on a couple of occasions and played with Eric on a Terence Blanchard recording [2000's Wandering Moon]. I always wanted to do more playing with both of those wonderful players, so I saw this as an opportunity."

It was following a performance at the Kennedy Center that Holland decided to document the sextet. "As we were leaving the stage, Eric whispered in my ear, `We gotta record this!'" Holland recalls. "I had been thinking along those lines also but that was the push I needed. So we decided to aim for a week at the Blue Note in August of 2007, then immediately go into the studio and record the band in New York. That's how this thing came together."

Product Description

Pass It On features newly-realized arrangements of some potent Holland compositions from past recordings, including "Lazy Snake" and "Equality" (from 1995's Dream of the Elders), the uptempo burner "Double Vision" (from 1984's Seeds of Time), the dynamic, mood-shifting suite "Rivers Run" (written for Dave's former duets partner from the mid-'70s, saxophonist Sam Rivers, and originally appearing on 1988's Triplicate), "Processional" (from 1989's Extensions) and "Modern Times" (from the 1995 Gateway recording, Homecoming). "Some of the compositions that I've written in the past evolve in my mind a little bit over time," says Holland, who is perhaps the most prolific bassist-composer since Charles Mingus. "When we first recorded some of these pieces, they were done in more stripped-down versions with different instrumentation, and I was starting to hear them as being possible for a larger ensemble. One of the advantages of the sextet is that it's still a smaller unit than big band or octet but it also gives you a lot of options in terms of orchestrating and utilizing backgrounds, either from the three horns or if one of the horns is soloing, from the other two horns. So I thought that was a good way to fill out these old compositions and expand on them a little bit where something new could happen. And, of course, this group of people brings some new creative ideas to the pieces." In addition to reinventing those previously recorded pieces, Holland also introduces two new compositions in the buoyant swinger "Fast Track" (based on the chord changes to George Gershwin's "The Man I Love") and the spirited, gospel-tinged title track which carries the kind of jubilant, uplifting feel inherent in the music of the Brotherhood of the Breath led by the South African-born Scottish musician Chris McGregor, an important mentor for Holland in the early part of his career. Eubanks also contributes the stirring, African-flavored opening track, "The Sum of All Parts." Says Holland, "I'm a big fan of Robin's compositions. I've featured him pretty much on every CD that I've done since 1987 and he's been a great asset, not just as a trombonist but as a composer." While Holland has eschewed piano with his long-standing quintet (featuring trombonist Eubanks, saxophonist Chris Potter, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, and drummer Nate Smith), he revels in the beautiful voicings and refined touch that pianist Miller brings to the sextet on Pass It On. "Of course, I have played with a lot of pianists over the years, including Hank Jones, Herbie Hancock, and others, but in my own projects I never really conceptualized a group with piano. Mulgrew certainly is within that tradition of great accompanists as well as being a wonderfully original soloist. He is such a rich and deeply-rooted musician in the great tradition of the piano but, of course, is always forward-thinking and forward-moving in his conception. What he brings to the ensemble is something that I'm always looking for, which is that dialogue and communication and interaction between the rhythm section and the horns when they're soloing. So Mulgrew was really the ideal pianist for me. It was a very great honor for me to have him involved in this music." Harland's ability to engage in dialogue with the rest of the musicians throughout the course of a given piece comes directly out of the great tradition of such highly interactive drummers as Roy Haynes, Tony Williams, and Jack DeJohnette, all of whom Holland has played and recorded with. "What Eric does is totally in touch with what's going on in the music and in touch with what I'm playing," says Dave. "Within the group there's always a dialogue going on within the rhythm section. I love that kind of thing. I love the sparring and the back and forth. For me, that's what it's all about. It's not just about a background rhythm section that's just laying down a sort of generic pad for soloists to play on. I like it to be a true conversation where the soloists get really inside the rhythm section."

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Stuff!, September 25, 2008

By 

Gregory Gibbs (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pass It On (Audio CD)

Man, have I been enjoying this CD! The front line of trombone, trumpet, and alto sax just sounds so different after listening to Dave's usual quintet lineup over the years. I also enjoy the addition of Mulgrew Miller on piano. The tunes are uniformly excellent. Even though this music sounds more tightly orchestrated compared to Holland's past quintet offerings, it is still extremely enjoyable. The interplay between the musicians is great and everyone gets the chance to stretch out over the course of the CD. When the disc ends, I just want to hear it again. It's not leaving my CD player anytime soon!

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really, dont pass it on, October 3, 2008

By 

Matthew Miller "jazzplayer" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pass It On (Audio CD)

This album is just stellar, and I really mean stellar. It could not have turned out better. Long time fans of Dave will not in any way be disapointed. Newcomers will find deep and interesting while still being wholly accessible. Just great.

This is a slightly different band from last time round. Trombonist Robin Eubanks is still there (and just as smoking as always. Really, how does he do that stuff?), but most everyone else is different. Instead of Steve Nelson on Vibes, we have the jazz giant Mulgrew Miller on piano who is in fine form. Drum prodigy Eric Garland takes over for Nate Smith (Eric as well is just spectacular in general) and alto saxophone player Antonio Hart takes over for the (primarily) tenor player Chris Potter. This was one area that worried me somewhat when I first heard of this album. Chris Potter was a staple of all of Holland's bands, big and small, for many years, and he is by far one of the most gifted sax players on the scene today. The thought of a Holland album without him seemed like almost like blasphemy to me. That having been said, although I may still prefer Potter in general, Hart is a monster of a player and I would struggle to find fault with his laying anywhere here. Just great. Augment the band is trumpet player Alex "Sasha" Sipiagin. The new band works great together. I particular approve of the addition of Mulgrew Miller. Although the vibraphone quintet setup worked for Holland in the past, its really hard to make up for what Miller brings to the mix.

I have written a few reviews before and usually I use a paragraph to talk about a few songs that I particularly liked on the album. I'm not going to do that here, because I cant think of what songs to talk about. Holland (who wrote all of the songs except for the first track) has really hit a groove in terms of writing it seems. Whereas in "Critical Mass" (his last album) I found one or two tracks easily stood above the rest, this album does not have any weak points. The tracks are varied in style, but all incredibly solid. Although some of them sound a bit more standard than last time round, they are perfect vehicles for improvisation on the part of the band members and never sound out of place. Some are more upbeat, some more somber, but they are all excellent and taken as a whole, the result is spectacular.

I cannot recommend this album enough to fans of modern hard-bop. This is probably the best example we will get this year. In overall quality I think it is only surpassed by Charles Lloyd's "Rabo de Nube" for best of this year, though I might classify them slightly differently. Either way, you will not be disappointed by this.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Billy Killson - where are you?, September 19, 2009

By 

Ken "true jazz fan" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pass It On (Audio CD)

Lord knows I loves me some Dave Holland music. He features prominently in my music collection, both as a sideman, leader and composer. For my money he and Wayne Shorter are the twin towers in shaping the direction of post bop jazz. Both can claim to have the tightest bands in music today. With such a glorious history, the decision to purchase Pass It On was an easy one. I am sure new and returning fans won't be disappointed. As in the past, the new CD spotlights the greatest jazz trombonist of all time, Robin Eubanks (sorry JJ), an impressive line-up of accomplished jazz luminaries and of course, the compositions and virtuoso double-bass contributions of Dave Holland.

Still, for me, something is lacking. Replacing Steve Nelson on vibes is Mulgrew Miller on piano. Although Steve provided a spare surreal sound to the ensemble sound, I can live with that. Antonio Hart replaces Chris Potter. Although no mortal can replace the intuitive, deep and almost telepathic connection and spirited interply between Potter and Eubanks, I can even deal with that. What I miss most, and this is no slam to the estimable Eric Harland, is the mercurial, quirky fire that Billy Kilson consistently lent to the proceedings. It is not simply a matter of being the "best drummer". Kilson for this group was the "right" drummer. Just like Charlie Rouse was the right tenor sax for Monk (sorry Trane).

Undoubtably there are some beautiful tracks on this latest effort. Mulgrew Miller in particular, makes some spectacular contributions. I may feel differently after a few more listenings and my expectations born of the past diminish. For now at least I still carry the Kilson torch.