Dave Holland Quintet: Boring?

[P.L.M]

Many of the people I know would quickly agree that Chris Potter is one of the best improvisers alive. You people seriously need to warm up to him, no matter how long it takes.

Really? I find Potter to be one of the most predictable and academic sax player on the main stream scene today.

If you think than he is "one of the best improvisers alive", you and me don't surely share the same idea on what "improvisation" is.

I'm not a specialist of this "scene" (the main stream) but tenor sax players like Tony Malaby, Bill McHenry and most of the younger one that you can find on "Fresh Sound New Talent" are way ahead of him, for this ears, to say the truth.

Edited June 29, 2005 by P.L.M

[Guy Berger]

Why? -- I don't hate him but I find him pretty pushy as a player.

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I like his playing in this group, but haven't heard anything that's made me want to look for CDs under his name.

Guy

[Guest]

I don't find Potter to be predicable at all. Rhythimcally, he's very creative and what I like to call "edgy" or "on the edge". He can play around with rhythms in any time signature. For instance, check out the song 7.5, which is in 7 1/2 from "Lift: Live at the Village Vanguard." He burns.

Chris Potter might not be everybody's cup of tea. But my friends, I, Jack Dejohnette, Dave Holland, John Scofield, Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Benny Carter, Jimmy Heath, Branford Marsalis, Jackie McLean, Frank Wess, Red Rodney, Bill Warfield, LaVerne Butler, Peter Madsen, Greg Gisbert, Marian McPartland, Owen Howard, Ryan Kisor, Joel Spencer, Kelly Sill, John Swana, Peter Delano, and James Moody like him ... just to name a few.

Whatever.

Edited June 29, 2005 by Beboptrumpeter

[Nate Dorward]

I don't think there was any question about Potter's facility as a player or his ability to play within nonstandard time signatures. -- Yes, he's certainly been part of the bands of many fine players. But that's probably not going to sway listeners by itself: I'm not John Scofield or Jack DeJohnette & so their good opinions still can't make me or others enjoy Potter's work.

I thought his overheated but rather calculated style worked nicely last year at a concert with his quartet with Wayne Krantz, Craig Taborn & Nate Smith--rather Tim Berneish at times, grinding fusion jams mostly.

[Guest]

The list of people who enjoy Chris Potter's work is not meant to sway people. If you don't like a person's playing, you won't like it because others do.

It's just to reassure myself and others who like Chris Potter that we aren't weird for liking him. I have seriously never encountered any dislike for Potter before reading this topic. Kind of came as a shock to me that people don't enjoy his playing. Then again, I enjoy ALL jazz and every professional player out there. There is no type of jazz/player that I do not enjoy listening to.

[1ngram]

The list of people who enjoy Chris Potter's work is not meant to sway people. If you don't like a person's playing, you won't like it because others do.

It's just to reassure myself and others who like Chris Potter that we aren't weird for liking him. I have seriously never encountered any dislike for Potter before reading this topic. Kind of came as a shock to me that people don't enjoy his playing. Then again, I enjoy ALL jazz and every professional player out there. There is no type of jazz/player that I do not enjoy listening to.

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Banjo?

Have to say I saw Potter and Krantz at the beginning of their European tour playing here in Aberdeen this spring and thought they were excellent

Edited June 29, 2005 by 1ngram

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Wow - you dislike NO ONE? You like EVERYONE?

I can't fathom that. Now, if only you had unlimited financial resources, you could save jazz! Or kill it - I'm not sure.

Mike

[Guest]

I've heard banjos played in jazz. Sounds nice. That old stuff from the 20's or whatever. Haven't really heard it as a solo voice, but I'm sure that would sound cool.

There's nothing I've heard that I have not grown to like, or have not liked right on the spot. Seriously.

However, I hate/dislike other genres of music, so maybe it balances out?

I love Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and Scott Joplin. I also love Duke, Basie, Goodman, Shaw, and all that 30's big band stuff. Diz, Bird, any bebop. Any Blue Note recording. Weather Report, Pat Metheny, Spyro Gyra, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, any fusion. Any of Miles Davis stuff ranging from stuff like Birth of the Cool to Tutu. Avant Garde and Free, like Ornette and Coltrane's later stuff. Modern jazz. It's all great.

This is kind of off topic, so if you would like to try me as far as enjoyments of different types of jazz, just PM me or email me.

It's true that I like some musicians better than others, but I don't dislike any of them.

Edited June 29, 2005 by Beboptrumpeter

[clifford_thornton]

Hey, I like it all too, though not 'every' player in 'every' genre. I think most people here are of that very same mind. Organissimo has even piqued my curiosity on matters concerning early jazz of the 20s and 30s.

Banjo - I like Elmer Snowden, as well as contemporary banjo sound-artist Uncle Woody Sullender. If you're interested in banjo, those are two of hundreds of names to check out.

That said, I might like Chris Potter better if he played banjo, and if Holland kept up with the cello.

[marcello]

Banjo - I like Elmer Snowden, as well as contemporary banjo sound-artist Uncle Woody Sullender. If you're interested in banjo, those are two of hundreds of names to check out.

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Remember the "Leadbelly" record by Clifford Jordan with Chuck Wayne on banjo?

[montg]

I picked up my first Dave Holland quintet CD recently (Not for Nothin') and I'm giving it a first spin as I type this. I'm finding it's living up to the hype...real nice. Because of the instrumentation, I guess i was kind of expecting something along the lines of the Moncur BN dates (which I love), but this has its own feel. Nice compositions. Steve Nelson on vibes is a pleasant surprise; I wonder why he hasn't recorded more as a leader.

Only drawback, I'm finding the vaunted ECM sound to be less than impressive. It sounds really flat to me.

[sal]

I picked up my first Dave Holland quintet CD recently (Not for Nothin') and I'm giving it a first spin as I type this.  I'm finding it's living up to the hype...real nice.  Because of the instrumentation, I guess i was kind of expecting something along the lines of the Moncur BN dates (which I love), but this has its own feel.  Nice compositions.  Steve Nelson on vibes is a pleasant surprise; I wonder why he hasn't recorded more as a leader.

Only drawback, I'm finding the vaunted ECM sound to be less than impressive.  It sounds really flat to me.

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Glad that you enjoyed it. Try "Prime Directive" next, and if you like that, seal it with "Extended Play: Live at Birdland", which is a monster.