Released 1973 (1973) Length 39:38 Producer Manfred Eicher Genre Avant-garde jazz | Recorded November 30, 1972 Release date 1973 Label ECM Records | |
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Studio Allegro Studio
New York City Conference of the Birds
(1972) Dave Holland / Sam Rivers
(1976) Artists Dave Holland, Dave Holland Quartet Similar Dave Holland albums, Avant-garde jazz albums, Other albums | ||
Dave holland quartet conference of the birds hq
Conference of the Birds is a studio album by the Dave Holland Quartet, recorded in 1972 and released in 1973. It is jazz bassist Holland's second collaboration with composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton, as well as his second album on ECM Records. The liner notes describe how birds would congregate each morning outside Holland's London apartment and join with one another in song.
Contents
Four winds conference of the birds wmv
Overview
Holland's compositions for the album had been performed at a New York City concert by a group including Randy Brecker on trumpet, Michael Brecker on tenor sax, Ralph Towner on guitar, Holland on bass, and Barry Altschul on percussion; "Braxton and Rivers, however, were chosen for the recording as better able to respond to the opportunist disjunctions offered within Holland's compositions."
Each piece on the album is "open form," with a theme stated at the beginning to set key, tempo, and mood. The players are then free to improvise in whatever direction they choose. Stuart Nicholson writes: "Conference of the Birds emerged as a definitive statement of swinging free expression. It was, in essence, a return to the rugged discipline of early 1960s free improvising by working off melodic foundations using the 'time, no changes' principle to achieve greater control over that elusive quarry, freedom."
Reception
The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected the album as part of its "Core Collection," and gave it a rating of four stars (of a possible four). Jazz critic Michael G. Nastos called the album "[Holland]'s finest hour" and "definitive progressive music." Steve Huey, writing for allmusic, calls Conference of the Birds "one of the all-time avant-garde jazz classics, incorporating a wide spectrum of '60s innovations.... This album is a basic requirement for any avant-garde jazz collection, and it's also one of the most varied and accessible introductions to the style one could hope for." The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide said the album "only gets more impressive as time passes".
Track listing
All compositions by Dave Holland.
- "Four Winds" – 6:32
- "Q & A" – 8:34
- "Conference of the Birds" – 4:34
- "Interception" – 8:20
- "Now Here (Nowhere)" – 4:34
- "See-Saw" – 6:40
Personnel
Songs
1Four Winds6:36
2Q & A8:38
3Conference of the Birds4:43