Dave Holland Sextet

[LWayne]

Last week while in New York for a combined business and pleasure trip, I was able to catch the late set by the Dave Holland Sextet at the Blue Note on opening night (Tuesday, August 21st). In just their second set of performances, the band was playing Tuesday through Saturday as a warm-up for going into the studio the next week to document the first recording of this newly formed group.

In the past, I have been fortunate to catch many permutations of Dave Holland’s groups from the unparalleled Dave Holland Quintet, the Dave Holland Octet, and the Grammy- award winning Dave Holland Big Band. I was eager to check out this new ensemble.

The Sextet had a rhythm section of Dave Holland on Bass, Mulgrew Miller on Piano, and Eric Harland on Drums. The most notable difference in the sextet’s lineup being the substitution of piano for the vibes/ marimba sound of Steve Nelson which is a defining sound of the quintet. The front line brass consisted of Antonio Hart on sax, Robin Eubanks on trombone, and Alex “Sasha” Sipiagin on Trumpet. Sipiagin is well-known to Dave Holland fans from his participation in the Octet and Big Band groups.

The set began with an up-tempo version of “Modern Times”. This song was highlighted by excellent solos from Antonio Hart and Robin Eubanks trading lines on the chorus. The second song, “Mr. B”, was announced as a tribute to the late bassist Ray Brown. This is a often performed selection by the quintet, and the sextet performed a mid-tempo rendition highlighted by a pretty solo by Mulgrew Miller on piano.

The last three songs of the set were “Interception”, “Processional”, and the set closer “Double Vision”. Each song demonstrated the trademark Dave Holland stating the theme featuring point/ counter-point among the horns and steady underpinning by the rhythm section. Even the new songs sounded familiar because of this consistent, dynamic, approach.

This was a great night of both familiar and new songs performed by a dynamic group that has added piano and trumpet to an already successful and well-known format. One of the better concerts of the year and the audience gave a well-deserved standing ovation.

LWayne

[Tom Storer]

So they're recording--great. I can't wait to hear this group, especially to hear how Miller functions in Holland's sonic world. Leave it to Holland: when he moves back to the more traditional rhythm section, i.e. with piano instead of vibes, he hires one of the best, most interesting and also most under-utilized mainstream piano masters. Here's hoping this association will also serve as a boost to Miller's inexplicably sidelined career (inexplicably to me, anyway).