Dave Holland Quartet - Extensions (1990)

I picked up this used disc at the local Half Price Books simply because it was on the ECM label. I also recognized several names on the cover including Holland, Kevin Eubanks, and Marvin "Smitty" Smith, the latter two were playing in The Tonight Show band at the time of this release. This music, however, bears little resemblance to anything that was played during the commercials of Jay Leno's show. The critics liked it (see below), but it's a little too avant-garde for my tastes. I like my ECM releases a bit more...what's the word I'm looking for...atmospheric? relaxed? conjunct? ambient? moody? I'm not saying it's bad - Eubanks, in particular, brings his A game throughout the album - it's just not my bag, man.

Holland - bass
Steve Coleman - Alto Saxophone
Kevin Eubanks - guitar
Marvin "Smitty" Smith - drums

Reviews/ratings:

• DownBeat (★★★★★) : "stretched to the breaking point with engaging sounds"
• Musician: "These guys git it."
• Billboard: "a first-rate all-star session."
• New York Times: "an often brilliant album"
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★½
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #6

Tracks: My top pick is track 2, Processional, written by Holland.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Selected Recordings :rarum X (2004)

Dave Holland - Selected Recordings :rarum X (2004)

ECM :rarum MONTH* (MARCH 2017)

A British bassist/composer/band leader that got his big break with none other than Miles Davis in 1968, appearing on In A Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. He then went his own way and eventually made his way to the group Circle, which signed to ECM. There, Holland recorded with many different instrumentations from solo cello to big band. In this compilation, but it's mainly recordings with quartets and quintets. No matter the instrumentation, there's always a lot going on - this isn't background music. The avant-garde stuff isn't really my thing, but I can appreciate it for what it is. My picks tend to be the more straight-ahead and fusion tracks. As a compilation, it really doesn't hold up as an album, but I don't think that was the intent.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: 11 tracks, 76 minutes.

Title	Album	Year
How's Never	Homecoming (Gateway trio)	1994
You I Love	Jumpin' In (quintet)	1983
Inception	Life Cycle (solo cello)	1982
The Balance	Points of View (quintet)	1998	✔
Equality (feat. Cassandra Wilson)	Dream of the Elders (quartet)	1995
Nemesis	Extensions (quartet)	1990
Shifting Sands	Not for Nothin' (quintet)	2001	✔
Four Winds	Triplicate (trio)	1988
Prime Directive	Prime Directive (quintet)	1999	✔
Homecoming	Seeds of Time (quintet)	1984
Conference of the Birds	Conference of the Birds (quartet)	1972

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

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*Back in June 2015, this beautiful thing showed up at my doorstep:

It's a 12 CD box set (2008) of compilation discs from ECM's :rarum series, a birthday gift from a good friend. In this series, the artists were given the freedom to pick their personal favorite recordings from any ECM release they've made as a leader or sideman. In other words, the label got outta the way and good for them. I'll be making my way through the set this month.

ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music), originally a German label, was founded in 1969. "Rarum" comes from the Latin root "rarus" meaning "rare" (perhaps foreshadowing that these CDs wouldn't be in print for very long).