CD, стоящие на полке рядом : Jazz (Free - Avant-Garde)      

Recorded at Systems Two Brooklyn NY, january 1991

Jazz duets are tough and demanding, especially for bassists since they require maximum soloing and support skills without any safety net. Charlie Haden has done the most with the duo form among active jazz bassists, but Dave Holland is also particularly adept at tackling them, especially when working with a foil like the slippery, darting alto saxophonist Steve Coleman. Coleman spent several years as part of Holland's late-'80s quintet, so each player here is plenty familiar with the other's moves. There's not very much unaccompanied soloing on Phase Space in a repertoire blending Charlie Parker ("Ah-Leu-Cha"), Mal Waldron and Bunky Green ("Little Girl, I'll Miss You"), four Coleman originals, and two pieces by Holland. The Bird opener sets a snappy pace, but Holland's "Dream of the Elders" opens up spaces and "Syzygy" continues in the sparer vein with stop-time bass slaps setting off some spiky alto lines. Coleman works much more off the melodic cues in Holland's foundation than the rhythmic ones he explores with his Five Elements group, and Waldron's "Straight Ahead" provides the disc's ballad flavor. Given some of the passages in "Little Girl, I'll Miss You," Coleman sounds like he might have been listening to a lot of Eric Dolphy at this stage in his life (specifically "Sketches of Melba"). That Dolphy feel also pervades "Prescience," where it melds with Holland's very bluesy walking to forge one of Phase Space's most emotionally affecting tracks. "Prescience" is effective for its very simplicity, and equally simple is the feeling you have at the end of Phase Space. Namely, that Steve Coleman and Dave Holland have taken you down a path of five- to eight-minute pieces, exploring all the side roads but never losing track of the final destination. No grandstanding, no coasting - just two masterful musicians playing together and taking the listener along for the ride.

- Don Snowden (All Music Guide)