'Freedom Call' by Dave Holland

"Jazz has such a great feeling and great emotional content that it really doesn't require you to have technical understanding of it.  I think you just have to allow your feelings to go with the music and you will find yourself carried along by it fairly quickly."

It's a humble assessment of what constitutes a genius within a genre that thrives on rule-breaking and free-spirited approaches to music composition and performance.  Dave Holland's legacy within jazz has made his name as synonymous with the bass as John Coltrane with the saxophone, Max Roach with the drums or Eugene McDuffy with the organ.

Dave Holland's open-minded perspectives to jazz and composition has seen the bassist and band leader soar over a career that dates back to the early-1970s.  The UK-born and US-based artist has cultivated an illustrious legacy across a multitude of his own releases and collaborations that would ultimately connect Miles Davis' electric period, post-bop, free jazz and ECM's more exploratory sound.  Holland's work has further seen him perform alongside generational luminaries including Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Billy Hart and Nate Smith as well as having appeared on seminal albums within jazz's rich lineage including Davis' 'Bitches Brew' (1970), Chick Corea's 'A.R.C.' (1971), Kenny Wheeler's 'Gnu High' (1976) and Pat Metheny's 'Question and Answer' (1990).

Released in celebration of his 80th birthday, Edition Records unveil the suitably touching 'Freedom Call' which assembles an awe-inspiring collection of the bassist's music for a compulsory ensemble purchase.

Pulling together three full-length and previously unreleased performances via three different line-ups, the reverence that surmises such an impactful career receives all its due respect with 'Freedom Call's exquisite roll-out: six LPs, three CDs, with a fold-out poster and Dave Holland-penned liner notes.  

With the box set comprised of Sextet ('Unity'), Quintet ('Synergism') and Prism ('Freedom'), a typically world-class ensemble is enlisted across the three performances that include names like Nate Smith, Chris Potter, Eric Harland, Craig Taborn and Antonio Hart.  Even as a bandleader, Holland was always a staunch proponent for promoting individuality amongst the artists he would perform with - affording artists the space and opportunity to make moments their own.  And despite 'Freedom Call' serving as yet another project to demonstrate Holland's unwavering brilliance, it is also demonstrative of Holland's passion for collaboration and the selflessness that he brings to his performances.

For fans both new and long-standing, 'Freedom Call' serves as an inspired release to celebrate the 80th milestone of a jazz great.  Ultimately though, the music throughout is a testament to the fact that Dave Holland is an artist whose greatest contribution to jazz may not be rooted by his own technical prowess but by the opportunities he creates for others to play them.  Across a career defined by curiosity, generosity and an unwavering commitment to musical freedom, Holland continues to demonstrate that the most profound moments in jazz are often those that cannot be planned, rehearsed or replicated.  They simply have to be felt.