Another Land

When Dave Holland played to huge festival crowds in Miles Davis’ first electric bands, he played Fender electric bass (and looked rather like an Allman Brother). But upright bass was the instrument on which he built his iconic career in the decades to come. It’s notable, therefore, that Holland plays electric on three cuts from *Another Land*, a groove-intensive trio session with guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Obed Calvaire. The electric bass tracks are “Grave Walker,” “Mashup,” and “The Village,” all by Eubanks. Holland’s instrument gives them a bounce and momentum that prompts Eubanks’ gnarliest guitar work of the date. The two share a fruitful history: Eubanks played on Holland’s 1990 landmark, *Extensions*, and more recently on 2013’s *Prism*. As if to honor that musical bond, the guitarist offers Holland’s enigmatic “Quiet Fire” here as a solo guitar piece, bringing rich harmony to a song that originally didn’t include chords at all (it appeared on Holland’s 1988 trio classic, *Triplicate*, with just alto sax, bass, and drums). Playing without a pick, Eubanks achieves with thumb and fingers an astonishing range of timbres and stylistic borrowings, from aggressive slap-funk to biting blues rock to the mellifluous chord-soloing he pulls off on Holland’s “Passing Time.” His assertive six-string personality plays a defining role in the project. Holland sounds in top form, and his chemistry with the agile and subtle Calvaire, 35 years his junior, is infectious — not least on Calvaire’s own “Gentle Warrior,” a bright 5/8 workout with a folk-like melody and mysterious air.

Another Land is the new album from the all-star trio featuring Dave Holland, Kevin Eubanks and Obed Calvaire and a power-packed set of originals. This is a potent studio set of fluid themes developed by the band and forged in the furnace of live performance. During the live shows that preceded the recording of Another Land, Dave explains “we were doing a continuous set, once we started we very rarely stopped, we just kept going,”. The Guardian described the shows as a “blues-fuelled inferno summoning the spirit of Hendrix” Throughout his career, Dave Holland has established a reputation for making his bands a proving ground for promising young instrumentalists, but his latest trio is a true all-star assemblage of jazz heavyweights, all established bandleaders and composers, each representing the world standard on their instrument. Released on limited edition double vinyl, CD and hi-res download, this is a power-packed set that reunites Dave with the guitar work of Kevin Eubanks, whose searing, soulful approach was last heard on Dare 2 as part of the Prism project. Eubanks was also key to the muscular quartet that recorded Holland’s seminal 1990 ECM release Extensions, and this new band is yet another example of Holland’s brilliance at building ensembles that are greater than the sum of their formidable parts.

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On Another Land, jazz bassist Dave Holland returns to the guitar trio format with Kevin Eubanks of 'The Tonight Show' band flying by his side.