Crosscurrents Trio with Chris Potter, Dave Holland and Marcus Gilmour. The concert was a collaboration between the Esslingen Jazz Festival and the Theaterhaus Stuttgart.
Before the event even began, there was disappointing news: the announced tabla player Zakir Hussain was ill and therefore could not perform.
The good news: Marcus Gilmore was brought in for the new line-up of the trio – a real stroke of luck from the big world of the best jazz drummers. He received his first drum lessons at a young age from his grandfather, the drum legend Roy Haynes.
He has since performed on stage with the greats of jazz, including Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Branford Marsalis, Roy Hargrove and Clark Terry. Now also with Dave Holland and Chris Potter. Gilmore fitted in so perfectly with his differentiated playing and his attentiveness to his bandmates that you could believe it had been planned that way.
The other two musicians in the trio probably don’t need to be introduced in detail: Dave Holland, the English bassist, has been internationally recognized since his participation in Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew”.
In 2000 he received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music. Chris Potter from Chicago gave his first professional jazz concert at the age of 13, before attending the Manhattan School of Music.
He has shared the stage with the best musicians of his generation, and his collaboration with Dave Holland has now spanned decades.
The trio played for an hour and a half without a break, interrupted only by three short announcements. Most of the compositions were by Holland, but “Good Hope” by Potter and a piece by Gilmore were also played.
Since it was the first concert of the tour with this changed line-up, Dave Holland was particularly pleased that it was so well received by the audience. One enthusiastic listener said: “The best concert of the Esslingen Jazz Festival this year.”
