We've all been there: while routinely scrolling and clicking, you come across one of the many big names in music history, but in the face of an almost overwhelming discography, you don't really know how to approach it at first. This could also be the case with British double bassist Dave Holland, who once played with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock and undoubtedly deserves the much-used term of jazz legend. Holland has played on over 170 albums in the course of his career. So what to do - flee? Not at all. Our author Jakob Obleser has listened to the musician's early work and, on the occasion of his upcoming concert on October 16 at UT Connewitz, provides us with six exclusively selected tracks to help us find our way through Holland's jungle of work.

1. Beans (from the album "Music from Two Basses")

"Beans" is the third track on the album "Music from Two Basses". It was recorded in February 1971 at the Bauer recording studio in Ludwigsburg and was released as the eleventh LP on the ECM Records label, which was not even two years old at the time. Within three minutes, Dave Holland and Barre Phillips create an impressive sound structure in which the two basses initially vie for attention in an erratic, overtone-scratching dialog. While the accompaniment track of long tones intensifies on the background level, the actions of the basses evaporate as if into the depths of a cathedral. The work with overdubs and double basses shows the innovation and creativity of the two musicians as well as the label and its producer Manfred Eicher, who set an early exclamation mark with this album with regard to the further development of ECM.

2. Ha-Ho-Da (from the album "Child of Gemini")

The album "Child of Gemini" by Sir Roland Hanna was recorded in the same week as "Music From Two Basses", also in a famous studio in southern Germany, MPS. On "Ha-Ho-Da", Dave Holland accompanies the established pianist, who has also played with Charles Mingus and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, over the classic twelve-bar blues form. His bass line waltzes stably and harmonically interactively behind Hanna's blues and bop messages. The drive of the accompaniment is reinforced by the growling double bass sound typical of this era, characterized by pickups and amplifiers. In the bass solo, Holland is unagitated yet captivating as he combines modern, technically expressive excursions across the entire fingerboard with the vocabulary of his predecessors and images. 

3. conference of the birds (from the album "Conference of the Birds")

"Conference of the Birds" was released in 1973 as Dave Holland's first album as the sole leader of a band. The title track is a testament to Holland's compositional skills. Inspired by Sufi poetry and the morning bird concert outside his London apartment, Holland playfully transfers the freedom that resonates in it to his double bass and his fellow players Anthony Braxton, Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul. Flute and soprano saxophone revel in the repetitive short form of the piece, while Holland constantly varies his accompaniment on bass - the real lifeline and anchor point of this quartet and an album that is particularly clear in its statement about music and interaction.

4. sauerkraut 'n solar energy (from the album " Norman Blake / Tut Taylor / Sam Bush / Butch Robins / Vassar Clements / David Holland / Jethro Burns")

Rather unknown is Dave Holland's work with important bluegrass musicians of his time, including Norman Blake and Vassar Clements, which Holland says began through a chance encounter while shopping. Holland opens the track "Sauerkraut 'n Solar Energy" with a bluesy solo that highlights his precision and rhythmic concision. His always sharp but flowing phrasing blends seamlessly with the percussive playing of his colleagues on guitar, violin and banjo. It is not entirely clear which specific utopia the musicians are playing in this title - but in any case, exuberance and togetherness are at the heart of this inspired jam from 1974.

5. shockwave (from the album "Waves")

While Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, two former colleagues from Miles Davis' bands, turned to a rockier and more commercial sound in the early 1970s with the Headhunters and Return to Forever, Dave Holland took a different path: he devoted himself extensively to playing freely with one of the leading avant-gardists of the time, Sam Rivers. The collaboration between the two includes several albums and numerous performances in various line-ups. One example is "Shockwave" from the 1978 album "Waves". Dave Holland is effortlessly pulled along by Sam Rivers' atonal, freely gesticulating piano playing and carries the improvisation of tuba and saxophone on his shoulders in the next section with rapid, never-exhausting bass lines. In an interview, Dave Holland appreciates the openness in the bands with Rivers and emphasizes the intuitive development of the common musical language and structure during longer, regular collaboration.

6th Combination (from the album "Emerald Tears")

At the end of this list is "Combination" from Dave Holland's first solo album for ECM: "Emerald Tears", 1978. At the center of this superbly recorded track is Holland's virtuosity on the bow. Without hesitation, he follows his inner flow of ideas and is able to present his tonal paths in an understandable way through excellent technique and clarity. His bass sounds warm and woody and the ease with which he masters this bulky instrument is downright infectious. The very first actions attract the listener's attention and hold it until the end with a balance of ideas and pauses.

Dave Holland's work continues with numerous releases as leader of bands of all sizes - from duos to big bands. No two albums sound the same. Holland's drive to evolve and his inspired productivity are evident. When he takes to the stage with Jaleel Shaw and Nasheet Waits at the Leipzig Jazz Days, echoes of his early and style-defining phase will still be audible.

Jakob Obleser