Dave Holland was just 21 when he replaced Ron Carter in Miles Davis's famed 1960s quintet, stepping onto a New York stage with no rehearsal, no set list, no sheet music and no prior discussion. The young British bassist watched the trumpeter approach the microphone and launch into a song at breakneck speed that Holland at least recognised: Agitation, an apt title for the situation.
Davis had heard Holland play in London only weeks before, in 1968. "The next thing I know, here's Miles Davis asking me to go to New York to play a gig with him," Holland told The Age via Zoom from his New York home. "I had no expectation of being a part of the band ... We did three weeks in New York, and at the end of that, I was told we were heading out on the road the week after, and it went on until I finally left the band in 1970."
Few non-Americans had cracked New York's jazz scene at that point, and yet Holland was immediately reaching its pinnacle, albeit initially sleeping on the couch of his close friend, drummer Jack DeJohnette. Holland, however, was not thinking about pinnacles; he was consumed with decoding the bandstand dynamics.
This month, Holland will play shows in Sydney and Melbourne with the band Aziza.