Dave Holland

The Profile

British jazz double bassist, composer, and bandleader. Rose to prominence with Miles Davis’s late-1960s electric period before a long ECM run and acclaimed small ensembles.

Played on Miles Davis’s In a Silent Way/Bitches Brew era; long ECM affiliation; led influential quintet/big band projects. Pathways was recorded live at the Village Vanguard with Chris Potter, Robin Eubanks, Steve Nelson, Nate Smith, Antonio Hart, Alex Sipiagin, and Gary Smulyan. Collaborated with Barre Phillips on the duo album Music From Two Basses.

Two DeBaser reviews spotlight Dave Holland’s range: a radical double-bass dialogue with Barre Phillips (Music From Two Basses) and the tight, live-sparked Octet set Pathways from the Village Vanguard. The first celebrates unrepeatable, avant-garde improvisation; the second praises the band’s cohesion and colorful arrangements. Contexts like Miles Davis’s electric era and ECM roots frame Holland’s trajectory.