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Dave Holland Last Night


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THANKS MARKY!!!!!!!

You are truely a class act!

What i would have done to Shake Dave's Hand (very jealous)

Anyways, about the show.

Best jazz show i've seen since the Herbie Trio (which, coincidently enough, featured Dave Holland on Bass)...

The Trombone Player (eubanks) and the Sax Player (forget) were both the best i've ever seen play their respective instruments....

They played six songs and an encore, for a show that almost totalled two hours. ALmost a fully packed house witnessed Dave Holland at his finest!

Not to mention, the single BEST drummer i've EVER saw, hands down....i can't think of anyone who even comes close!

Toronto Performing Arts Centre is absoutely beautiful....amazing site lines, and even better sound.

Marky, KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK!!!!!!!

Its nice to see some of your non-jamband shows thriving...

(oh, that opening Piano Player, Roy something...he was a breath of fresh air! I wouldn't have imagined a solo piano player, outside of Jarrett or Hancock, would keep my attention for a full hour....he was fantastic!)

Can't wait for the Latin Jazz Allstars Tonight! Massey Hall, yay!

Steve

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Hey Tube, The sax man Chris Potter and the Drummer Nate SMith (no longer Kilson) are both in the Chris Potter Quartet, check it out it is literally some of the best jazz you could hear. Yeah I bet you didn't know this but that was the first time since may that they had all been in the same room together. The sound check was literally their first time playing together since MAY no rehersals even... Check out the review of the show in Sunday's Toronto Star, Glad you enjoyed it!!!!!!

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I've never seen Brian Blade play live...only heard his cd's....AMazing drummer.

Jack DeJohnette was a much more smooth drummer, he made every note, or in this case, drum count. Nate Smith was a pure machine....

Never fell into a single beat, constantly changed things up, keeping things fresh.

I certainly can't think of anyone who has compared to Nate Smith, not that i've seen live. Roy Haynes and Jack Dejohnette were both great drummers though.

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Here's Toronto Star's jazz critic Geoff Chapman's review of the Holland concert:

Dave Holland's quintet has been called the best jazz band in today's world.

The British-born bassist likely gained many more believers with a brilliant concert at Weston Recital Hall in the Toronto Centre for the Arts on Friday. The performance was just one element of the Toronto Progressive Jazz Series, put together by enterprising 20-something Mark Finkelstein.

It may turn out to be the best element, since the star-studded fivesome play a contemporary form of jazz in which every component is equal and exciting while still maintaining rootsy values like (an implied rather than emphatic) swing, fervent expression and stunning improvisation. The cheers, which greeted every solo and echoed so loudly at concert close in this acoustically magical venue that a raucous horn-cutting session was the inevitable encore, seem evidence that there's a wise audience out there that recognizes just how appealing this jazz is to the brain as well as the heart.

The reception for the group was noisy before a note was played, in part amplified by the absence of one of today's piano demons, Jason Moran, due to a death in his family.

The amiable Holland, whose smiling visage will be familiar from his performances with quintet and with big band at recent Downtown Jazz festivals, was content mostly to draw from his recent successful CDs on the ECM label, starting with a guaranteed thriller in "The Balance."

Stimulating ideas swirled and surged and subsided from the beginning, with the effect being that you felt you were virtually taking part in a five-way dialogue brimming with salient points which were given formidable emphasis, yet never to the exclusion of other commentary. The sidemen relentlessly circled the sonic perfection that seemed to emanate from the leader's instrument and all were involved in the churning melodies and enriching harmonies.

The sidemen were stars in their own right, including the least-known of them, drummer Nate Smith, whose skittering energies at the kit kept the music on edge all night. Then there was Chris Potter, arguably the leading light on tenor and soprano saxophone, that wonderfully talented trombone-playing member of the Eubanks clan — Robin — and the mercurial, inventive Steve Nelson, ever-astute on vibraphone and marimba.

His dizzying flights on the lengthy opener had enormous appeal, and despite his lightness of touch here, with busy drums and resonant bass, one could believe an entire jazz orchestra was in action. This effect was magnified with Eubanks easing into a rhapsodic flow of notions before being tempted into hard-toned aggression and booting harangues. Then the fleet leader, always pressing colleagues to attempt to match his virtuosity, showed off plenty of examples of his dexterity, precision and an intonation that featured delightfully rounded notes.

With just one song, the group underlined why they're such a dynamic, sound- and shape-shifting work in musical progress. This fertile mood of exploration was apparent in "Easy Did It," an almost-blues that had Eubanks fast and fluent, Potter's sax wailing, and sparkling exchanges among the others before a sequence of extraordinary, insistently heaving grooves raised the thrill bar.

On the Eubanks tune "Full Circle," the spectacle of Potter on tenor leading a free-blowing charge delivered priceless moments, one of many examples of breathtaking playing that left listeners breathless. Eubanks matched fire with fire, adding crafty over-blowing and robust roars, and once again, the contribution of drummer Smith was superlative. "Make Believe" showed that the quintet could be suave with a ballad structure, with excellent technique matched to eloquent execution, while a feature that began with Holland's long, absorbing examination of the vast possibilities of acoustic bass became yet another example of the untapped diamond field that this disciplined band is mining so fruitfully.

Moran's replacement was Toronto pianist Ron Davis, whose predilection for extravagant flourishes and a repertoire that belongs in the history of jazz past rather than its future, wasn't really the right stylist to open for Holland whereas Moran's fervid imagination is logical. Davis has the technique, but sounded far too earthbound for this role. Heavyweight stride and boogified, percussive delivery may suit "Over The Rainbow" and even "Moon River," but this audience wanted intellectual fodder rather than a thudding, overwrought approach.

Finkelstein's series continues with a big night at The Senator on Tuesday when saxman Branford Marsalis will perform with a trio including pianist Joey Calderazzo. The following night at Glenn Gould Studio, it's solo piano from a great but undersung keyboard hero, Andrew Hill. Piano fans can also anticipate other solo shows at this venue by Brad Mehldau (Oct. 27) and Geri Allen (Nov. 12).

Meanwhile there are other interesting events that should have serious youth appeal — guitarist Charlie Hunter with drummer Bobby Previte and DJLogic (Oct. 30, Opera House), Willie and Lobo (Nov. 21, Hugh's Room) and groove merchants Medeski, Martin and Wood (Dec. 12, Koolhaus). Info: http://www.tojazzseries.com.

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