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Dave Holland Prism

71.227.17.27
Posted on April 14, 2014 at 17:50:16
D Harvey
Manufacturer

Posts: 5563
Location: SE Michigan
Joined: May 30, 2001
 Anyone else picked up this new release from Dave Holland? With Craig Taborn, Kevin Eubanks, and Eric Harland, everyone contributing as a composer. I'm particularly fond of Taborn's knotty contributions. The opening track reminds of Lifetime a bit, but this is not that raw overall. Perhaps not quite as compelling as the last quintet at their best, but still pretty good.

dh

 

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RE: Dave Holland Prism, posted on April 15, 2014 at 06:06:48
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15518
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 I picked it up, great disc!

 

RE: Dave Holland Prism, posted on April 15, 2014 at 06:29:19
jec01
Audiophile

Posts: 1462
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Joined: September 22, 2004
 I like it but don't love it.

I still haven't forgiven Holland for firing Billy Kilson.

Happy listening,

Jim

"The passage of my life is measured out in shirts."
- Brian Eno

 

Did he fire Kilson?, posted on April 15, 2014 at 09:02:39
D Harvey
Manufacturer

Posts: 5563
Location: SE Michigan
Joined: May 30, 2001
 I wondered where he went. Harland is no slouch, so I'm not too brokenhearted.

This is not my favorite Holland album either, but it's still pretty strong stuff.

dh

 

Oh, yeah, posted on April 15, 2014 at 10:37:58
jec01
Audiophile

Posts: 1462
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Joined: September 22, 2004
 I read an interview with Kilson a few years back, in which he expressed surprise and disappointment that Holland made the move. I couldn't find that interview with a quick web search, but I did find an interview in which Holland talked about it from his perspective:

Diego Ortega Alonso - Tomajazz: How has the switch from Billy Kilson to Nate Smith affected the band?

Dave Holland: I think that Nate is a great drummer and he brings a lot of imagination to the music. Billy Kilson also was a great drummer you know, but there are times when a change has to happen for some reason, can be many reasons, and I have met Nate Smith about five or six years ago, at a college, where I was doing a short teaching and I heard him and I said ah, this is a great drummer, a great young drummer, and so some gigs Billy Kilson could not do and I asked, -“Nate, can you play?” And he –“ah, yeah, fantastic...”, so about nearly two years ago now he began working with the Quintet at full-time and of course with the Big Band.


Happy listening,

Jim

"The passage of my life is measured out in shirts."
- Brian Eno

 

It happens., posted on April 15, 2014 at 11:41:08
D Harvey
Manufacturer

Posts: 5563
Location: SE Michigan
Joined: May 30, 2001
 Could have been a million (mostly innocuous) reasons, but it sounds like there's no bad blood on Holland's part. All gigs come to an end...it is a certainty. No question that Kilson is a monster.
dh

 

I'm a Holland group(s) fan, but passed on this one., posted on April 15, 2014 at 14:35:48
Rick W
 Just didn't seem as interesting as his past quintet/quartet/big band/octet recordings.

 

Curious what makes you say that. , posted on April 15, 2014 at 17:50:24
D Harvey
Manufacturer

Posts: 5563
Location: SE Michigan
Joined: May 30, 2001
 I really like Craig Taborn, and Harland plays the gig brilliantly. Kevin Eubanks was the big surprise for me though...he's got a lot more depth than I expected...not sure why I expected so little from him. In your view, what's not to like?

dh

 

RE: Curious what makes you say that. , posted on April 16, 2014 at 11:51:29
Rick W
 Much of the music just sounds like a series of vamps. I like hip vamps, and the ones on Prism are hip. But overall, there aren't any tunes on this that really grab me.

I know Harland's a good drummer, but his playing on this - combined with how they recorded the drums - sounds a tad (for want of a better adjective) Cobham-esque to me.

Hey, I'm a horn player. The *sounds* of Holland's groups with trpt/bone/alto (and of course the big band & octet), and the music they played holds my interest quite a bit more than Prism. I'm certainly not coming from "this is lame", but though I'm a big Holland fan and own a bunch of his recordings, Prism is just not one I'll buy.

 

That's cool., posted on April 16, 2014 at 12:03:12
D Harvey
Manufacturer

Posts: 5563
Location: SE Michigan
Joined: May 30, 2001
 I don't think it's quite as bad as a bunch of fusionesque vamps, but if it weren't for Taborn's compositions, I might feel similar to the way you do about the writing as well. I don't have any of the big band stuff....so many records....

dh

 

RE: I'm a Holland group(s) fan, but passed on this one., posted on April 17, 2014 at 18:06:49
suretyguy
Audiophile

Posts: 3022
Location: western Missouri
Joined: October 9, 2001
 I bought it on impulse several months ago without hearing it first, and must say that I don't really care for it at all. In fact I haven't been able to listen to it all the way through. This in spite of the fact that, like you, I'm extremely fond of virtually all of his other group recordings.

 

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