What a wonderful opportunity for the Royal Academy of Music jazz students this was: a few days’ work culminating in this one-off concert with the double bass and composer legend that is Dave Holland. Now, unbelievably, 78, the evergreen maestro’s profound and rich compositions here proved a great leaping off point for some imaginative soloing and incisive ensemble playing.
Under conductor Nick Smart, head of jazz programmes at the Academy, who shares a long history with Holland partly through working with Kenny Wheeler, the evening began with two smaller ensembles before working up to full big band. On opening track Homecoming, from the 1985 Seeds of Time album, brilliant young drummer Ananda Hanon enjoyed an instant rapport with the, as ever, relaxed and comfortable Holland, who was clearly enjoying himself in the company of the students. Bouncing accents with wild, creative abandon around this piece with its catchy Ornettish head, Hanon and Holland set up the perfect backdrop for saxophonists Tom Jarvis and Zac Schindler to take exciting solos that made great use of space and harmonic implications of Holland’s bass lines. It was instantly clear that Holland was freeing up his fellow musicians to showcase their individuality, somehow balancing his own continuous stream of invention with firmly rooting the music and triggering creative sparks among those around him. But how impressive it was that the young Academy musicians were so ‘in the zone’ in such stellar company, not overplaying and giving themselves space to think.
A haunting Dream of the Elders followed, the title track of Holland’s 1996 album, the ensemble now including vocalists Sylvie Noble and Anastasija Stanojevic singing lyrics by Norma Winstone, providing another Kenny Wheeler link.
The ensemble reached big band status on the next tune, Ario, the elegant, floating masterpiece inspired by Holland’s experience of Rio de Janeiro from the 2005 Overtime album. Flutes and harmon-muted trumpets, always an atmospheric combination, here set up altoist Elliot Wong for a wildly exciting solo full of long liquid phrases and perfectly timed and sculpted melodic fragments. Here the trombone section, including Ismael Aasgaard and Mateo Jaekel excelled together and in solos.
The choppy, funky yet time-shifting How’s Never from the 2010 Pathways album followed, featuring sparkling Fender Rhodes by Lewis James.
Holland’s compositions often have a sense of “discovering themselves”, starting often with a flurry of solo notes from the composer then settling into deep embroidered riffs in time signatures that are unusual but feel entirely natural simultaneously. This quality was evident in the next series of tunes, all arranged by Jim McNeely, hallowed ground for anyone interested in how to orchestrate contemporary music in settings like these. Make Believe, which Holland told us, was inspired by trying to work out the time signature while listening to musicians in a restaurant in Tunisia, was a further example of this vibe of self discovery, which Holland’s more developed works have. Here it featured the clarion, stately tenor sax of Ethan Townsend and mellifluous flugel of Iacopo Teolis.
Another tune with an air of North Africa, for this listener, was Jugglers Parade, a lovely lurching kind of groove over which the soprano sax of Mali Sheard wove richly textured patterns. The pacey Cosmosis stretched the ensemble with its rhythmic and harmonic switches but with Holland laying down the sonic backdrop, you felt the big band could only soar above everything.
A raucous, rocky The Empty Chair completed the set, offering riproaring solos from Toby Evans on guitar and Noah Chiari on baritone sax who, like Holland, clearly enjoyed the moment intensely. As did we all.
Age and experience contrasts were irrelevant; this was a night of moving, timeless music, another reminder of the sheer musicality of Dave Holland, composer and bassist.
RAM JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Bass: Dave Holland
Conductor: Nick Smart
Saxophones: Tom Jarvis, Zac Schindler, Mali Sheard, George Johnson, Elliot Wong, Oliver Koenig, Ethan Townsend, Noah Chiari (baritone and bass clarinet)
Trombones: Joseph Evans, Ismael Aasgaard Mateo Jaekel, Alfie Bousfield
Trumpets: Gabriel Taylor, George Hilliam, Iacopo Teolis, Zeb Buckeridge
Piano: Oscar Lyons, Will Inscoe, John Haslam, Lewis James (Fender Rhodes)
Guitar: Alfie Dean, Toby Evans
Vocals: Sylvie Noble, Anastasija Stanojevic
Drums: Ananda Hamon, Oscar Williams, Luke McCarthy, George Prentice-Povey
