Ottawa jazzfest’s first artist-in-residence proves his worth with three very diverse shows
By Peter Hum, The Ottawa Citizen
One day before Dave Holland was to perform at the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway last year, the unthinkable happened.
On July 22, far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik massacred 77 of his fellow Norwegians by bomb and by bullets. On July 23, Holland, the festival’s artist-in-residence, was to give the event’s closing concert.
The mass murder “hit everybody very hard,” Holland remembers. “There was some talk about cancelling.”
Instead, Holland’s concert with Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem and British reedman John Surman went on in the Molde Cathedral, and was refashioned into a tribute to those who died, with speeches preceding the trio’s performance.
Read more: Holland’s jazz journey …
