Overview
“Music from Two Basses” is an album by Dave Holland (bass, cello), an English jazz bassist known for his work with Miles Davis Quintet, and American jazz/free improvisation bassist Barre Phillips (bass).
Commentary
The album was recorded in 1971 and released by ECM Records.
It is an avant-garde jazz album that is mainly composed of improvisations only by bass and cello. It is tinged with contemporary classical music and European free improvisation. Though it is characterized by its experimental sounds including bass playing techniques such as pizzicato, arco, scrape and tapping, it also has beautiful and lyrical melodies and a chamber music-like atmosphere.
The first two tracks, “Improvised Piece I” and “Improvised Piece II” are free improvisations by Holland and Phillips. “Beans” and “May Be I Can Sing It for You” are composed by Phillips. “Raindrops”, “Just a Whisper”, and “Song for Clare” are composed by Holland.
The album was produced by Manfred Eicher. It was reissued on CD in Japan in 2003 for the first time in the world.
