Born in Wolverhampton, England, on October 1, 1946, Dave Holland began his prolific career as a bassist in the early 1960's. Before focusing his attention on upright bass, the primarily self-taught Holland began experimenting with music at age 4 with the ukelele then moved on to guitar at age 10 and the electric bass at age 13. Alongside a few of his friends, Holland began playing local clubs in his early teens. He then began listening to jazz and the sounds of bassists Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Soon after, Holland bought himself an upright, and before long he was frequenting the jazz circuit and sitting in with other local jazz musicians. After a couple big band gigs, Holland moved to London and began studying with James E. Merritt, the principal bassist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. With Merritt's assistance, Holland acquired a full scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he began his academic studies in 1964, and by his second year he was the principle bassist in the school orchestra.

By 1966 Holland was getting into the music of Charles Mingus, Scott LaFaro, Jimmy Garrison, Ron Carter, and Gary Peacock and playing with some of the most famous musicians in London including John McLaughlin. Just a year later Holland could be heard in London's famous Ronnie Scott's club alongside musicians such as Joe Henderson. It was at Ronnie Scott's club that Miles Davis heard the young Holland's skills and invited Holland to join his band. Holland soon relocated to New York, and for the next couple years toured extensively with Davis' historic band and appeared on a couple genre-breaking recordings including In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew.

After his stint with Miles, Holland played in a number of groups including Circle with Chick Corea, Stan Getz's band, and even Thelonious Monk. In 1972 Holland released his critically acclaimed debut project as a leader, Conference of the Birds. In 1977, Holland recorded his first collection of solo pieces, Emerald Tears and began appearing in solo bass concerts.

Throughout the 80's, Holland could be found performing in various formats with Steve Coleman, Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Robin Eubanks, Jack DeJohnette, and Kevin Eubanks to name but only a few.

In the early 90's, Holland appeared on a regular basis as a member of Herbie Hancock's trio and recorded the Grammy award-winning tribute to Miles Davis, So Near, So Far with Joe Henderson. In 1993 Holland recorded his second all-solo bass outing, Ones All and performed solo bass concerts extensively throughout Europe. Ones All has truly become a landmark recording in the art of solo bass performance. See examples below.

In 1994 Holland formed a new quartet and recorded Dream of the Elders. Besides leading his own group, Holland remained active as a collaborator with saxophonist Michael Brecker's band and pianist Herbie Hancock's group. He participated in a number of Grammy nominated recordings including Herbie Hancock's The New Standard and Michael Brecker's Tales from the Hudson.

Then, in 1997 Holland formed his current, critically acclaimed quintet. Thus far, they have recorded and released three projects including the Grammy nominated Points of View in 1998, the Grammy nominated Prime Directive in 1999, and their latest effort, Not For Nothin' in 2001. Each outing is a true document of five musicians interacting with each other at the highest level of art. Earlier this year (April 2001), I had the great pleasure of witnessing this magnificent group do what they do best. Without a doubt, this quintet has to rank amongst the greatest jazz groups of all time. The level of technical proficiency that each member of this band displayed was extraordinary. Holland's solo chops were simply jaw-dropping. He demonstrated a complete and total command of his upright. To hear them on a recording is one thing, but to see and hear how they actually interact live is something so completely different. If you ever have the opportunity to catch one of Holland's live concerts, don't miss it.

Since the founding of his current quintet, Holland's group has landed practically every noteworthy award you can think of including various Grammy nominations and being voted the #1 Acoustic Jazz Group of the Year in Down Beat magazine's Critics' Poll. Besides picking up numerous awards as a member of his own quintet, Holland has been voted the #1 Bass Player in Down Beat's Critics' Poll several times, and in 2000 Holland received an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music.

The two selections that I have chosen to exemplify Holland's impeccable technique are "Homecoming" and "Mr. P.C.", two solo pieces found on Holland's second solo upright project, Ones All. They are two of my favorite pieces from the Dave Holland library of recordings. Below you will find notated excerpts and Real Audio clips from both of these tracks. I hope you get as much enjoyment as I have in studying and playing them. These lines not only sound fantastic on upright, but they work great on electric bass too. So even though these lines were originally recorded on upright, I would highly recommend checking them out on electric bass as well.

"Homecoming" is the opening track from Dave Holland's second all-solo bass outing, Ones All. Released in 1995, Ones All ranks among one of the greatest collections of solo acoustic bass pieces ever recorded, and "Homecoming" is one of my favorite solo bass compositions. After just one listen, you'll recognize Holland's enormous warm tone, his phrasing, his beautifully contoured, lyrical lines, and his perfect intonation. Pay particular attention to the way Holland's melodic lines flow so smoothly from one phrase to the next, his extensive use of eighth note lines, his use of space, and the way he chooses to slide into certain notes to give them a "bluesy", almost voice-like quality.

Dave Holland's solo arrangement of "Mr. P.C." also appears on Ones All. My transcription of Holland's arrangement begins after a brief introduction around 18 seconds of the track and ends at approximately 1:26 into the piece. This solo transcription is composed of five chorus' and is divided into two sections. In section A you'll find the melody line played twice, and in section B Dave blows over three chorus' of well-crafted, incredible solo lines. In this transcription excerpt, be sure to pay particular attention to Holland's extensive use of melodic sequence.

"Mr. P.C." is a prime example of a minor blues form. You'll notice that instead of the usual m7 chords (Cm7, etc.), this minor blues contains chords notated as just m chords (Cm, etc.). The reasoning behind this is because the chords found in this piece are actually functioning as tonic chords, minor I, rather than the usual minor seventh or II chords. Since these chords function simply as tonic minor chords, you have several more scale options available to you. Instead of using just the usual dorian scale that is generally implied over a m7 chord, which you could still utilize here, you could also use the natural minor scale, minor pentatonic, blues, or even the minor major (jazz minor) scale. These are just a few of the options. You'll also notice that the chord changes over this minor blues tune differ slightly from that of the most commonly accepted set of blues changes. In this C minor blues you'll see the changes progress through measures nine to eleven from Ab7 to G7 to Cm instead of the more common G7 to F7 to C7 progression. This slight chord substitution from the more "traditional" blues changes is what makes the minor blues sound so interesting.

"Mr. P.C." was composed by jazz legend John Coltrane for his long-time friend and bassist, Paul Chambers (P.C.). Chambers' contribution to jazz stands among some of the most historic and influential bass work ever recorded. From 1955 to 1963, Paul Chambers anchored one of the most legendary rhythm sections of all time as a member of Miles Davis' bands and recorded some of jazz history's most renowned recordings including Kind of Blue. After his departure from Davis' group, Chambers' dynamic walking lines and arco solo flights could be found propelling the force behind John Coltrane's historic band on Giant Steps, arguably the most significant collection of jazz compositions ever recorded. The original recording of "Mr. P.C." can be found on Giant Steps. Coltrane regarded Chambers as one of the greatest bass players in jazz, and looking retrospectively at all the great bass players throughout the history of the bass tradition, Paul Chambers most certainly has to be considered one of the greatest of all time. Be sure to look for more information on Paul Chambers in a future lesson of The Bass Greats Series.

As A Leader
Extended Play - Live At Birdland
What Goes Around
Not For Nothin'
Prime Directive
Points Of View
Ones All
Emerald Tears
Conference Of The Birds

With Miles Davis
Bitches Brew
In A Silent Way
Filles De Killimanjaro

With Joe Henderson
So Near, So Far

With Herbie Hancock
The New Standard

With Michael Brecker
Tales From The Hudson


To find more information on this jazz bass legend including his biography, recordings, and touring itinerary, be sure to check out: DaveHolland.com.