With a career spanning five decades and an impressive CV which includes playing with artists such as Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette and John McLaughlin, Wolverhampton-born Dave Holland is the UK's most successful jazz bassist. Born on October 1, 1946, he started out playing ukelele and guitar and, typical of many British youngsters at the time, he became spellbound by the skiffle craze which swept Britain in the late '50s and early '60s. His bass playing career began on a tea chest, the only option for a penniless musician with aspirations to own a double bass. Dave Holland started out playing in R&B bands and depping for visiting overseas artists such as Roy Orbison and Chet Atkins before moving to London in 1964. Mentored by Edward Merrett, bassist of the Royal Philharmonic, Dave Holland was offered a scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music. This formal musical education provided the foundation for his future musical career. He became a regular player at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London and came to the attention of Miles Davis who asked him to join his band, playing on some of the best Miles Davis recordings including Witches Brew (1970). Leaving Miles Davis's band, Dave Holland briefly played with the avant-garde jazz group Circle before moving on to play with the likes of Thelonious Monk, Anthony Braxton, Stan Getz and Bonnie Raitt. He continued to play for big names and in 1983 he formed the Dave Holland Trio with Steve Coleman and Jack DeJohnette. In 2002, Dave Holland won his first Grammy Award as band leader on the album What Goes Around and another in 2005 for Overtime, both in the category Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. He has led other groups under his own name, such as a quartet (1973-1996), a quintet (1984-2011), a sextet (2008), and an octet for Pathways (2010). In 2026, Dave Holland paid tribute to one of his most loyal collaborators, the trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, who died in 2014, on the album Vital Spark: Music of Kenny Wheeler, with Norma Winstone and the London Vocal Project.
