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Biography
Dave Holland (born October 1, 1946) is a British jazz bassist and composer who is a significant representative of avant-garde jazz.
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Holland learned to play bass as a child, and spent three years studying the instrument at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. By 1967 he was a regular player at Ronnie Scott's, the premier jazz club in London, backing visiting musicians. He was also involved in the London free improvisation scene around the drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's classic 1968 album Karyobin. That same year, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him playing at Ronnie Scott's, and Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he couldn't return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, for half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).
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