Pass It On

Once again Dave Holland and Crew adapt, adjust and improvise exquisitely and improvisationally. This is a great album to buy if just for the tune Equality. Soothing and energizing music for the long haul. If you want to get through the current economic crisis with a positive attitude adjustment I recommend it highly. - Vincent

Dave Holland's Quintet has been one of the best working jazz bands over the last decade, plus. They have contributed classics like EXTENDED PLAY:LIVE AT BIRDLAND (one of the all time great live jazz recordings), PRIME DIRECTIVE and CRITICLA MASS. Here Holland mixes things up and comes back with a sextet that changes up the lineup, without sacrificing his high standard of quality. As usual the interplay between musicians is on a high plain. It's interesting hearing Mulgrew Miller's fine piano in place of Steve Nelson's always inventive vibes. Lone holdover from the Quintet, Robin Eubanks, shines as always on trombone. Standout tracks include THE SUM OF ALL PARTS, LAZY SNAKE and PASS IT ON. Very highly recommended to music lovers, jazz fans and especially fans of Holland's previous work.

This album is just stellar, and I really mean stellar. It could not have turned out better. Long time fans of Dave will not in any way be disapointed. Newcomers will find deep and interesting while still being wholly accessible. Just great.

This is a slightly different band from last time round. Trombonist Robin Eubanks is still there (and just as smoking as always. Really, how does he do that stuff?), but most everyone else is different. Instead of Steve Nelson on Vibes with the jazz giant Mulgrew Miller who is in fine form. Drum prodigy Eric Garland takes over for Nate Smith (Eric as well is just spectacular in general) and Alto saxophone player takes over for the (primarily) tenor player Chris Potter. This was one area that worried me somewhat when I first heard of this album. Chris Potter was a staple of all of Holland's bands, big and small, for many years, and he is by far one of the most gifted sax players on the scene today. The thought of a Holland album without him seemed like almost like blasphemy to me. That having been said, although I may still prefer Potter in general, Hart is a monster of a player and I would struggle to find fault with his laying anywhere here. Just great. Augment the band is trumpet player Alex "Sasha" Sipiagin. The new band works great together. I particular approve of the addition of Mulgrew Miller. Although the vibraphone quintet setup worked for Holland in the past, its really hard to make up for what Miller brings to the mix.

I have written a few reviews before and usually I use a paragraph to talk about a few songs that I particularly liked on the album. I'm not going to do that here, because I cant think of what songs to talk about. Holland (who wrote all of the songs except for the first track) has really hit a groove in terms of writing it seems. Whereas in "Critical Mass" (his last album) I found one or two tracks easily stood above the rest, this album does not have any weak points. The tracks are varied in style, but all incredibly solid. Although some of them sound a bit more standard than last time round, they are perfect vehicles for improvisation on the part of the band members and never sound out of place. Some are more upbeat, some more somber, but they are all excellent and taken as a whole, the result is spectacular.

I cannot recommend this album enough to fans of modern hard-bop. This is probably the best example we will get this year. In overall quality I think it is only surpassed by Charles Lloyd's "Rabo de Nube" for best of this year, though I might classify them slightly differently. Either way, you will not be disappointed by this.

Man, have I been enjoying this CD! The front line of trombone, trumpet, and alto sax just sounds so different after listening to Dave's usual quintet lineup over the years. I also enjoy the addition of Mulgrew Miller on piano. The tunes are uniformly excellent. Even though this music sounds more tightly orchestrated compared to Holland's past quintet offerings, it is still extremely enjoyable. The interplay between the musicians is great and everyone gets the chance to stretch out over the course of the CD. When the disc ends, I just want to hear it again. It's not leaving my CD player anytime soon!