CD review: Olivier Holland’s Gjazz 5 – Olivier Holland’s Gjazz 5 – 2021: Video, CD cover

A full 5 euros from every physical CD album sold – be it in person, at a gig or via the Timezone webshop – helps save our planet. The money will be used to support projects that save our oceans or fight climate change.

With the purchase of Gjazz5 you are helping organizations like “Avaaz” that need money to transform a threatened piece of paradise, a large marine area off the west coast of Arica, into a beautiful marine reserve. If this doesn’t happen, this (one of the last remaining) natural strongholds on earth will likely be destroyed by commercial fishing, like so many other places have been destroyed. Or “Carbon Click”, a company from Auckland that specializes in offsetting the carbon footprint. Olivier will regularly post updates and donation receipts on his website olivierholland.com so you know what happens to the money.

For the album “Gjazz5”, the German-New Zealand bassist, composer and music teacher Olivier Holland has a (literally) unique band of his favorite musicians Geoffrey Keezer (USA), Terreon Gully (USA), USA), Denis Gaebel (GER), Roger Manins ( NZ) as well as special guest Joscho Stephan (GER). Gully and Keezer share 4 Grammy nominations, with Keezer declining Miles Davis’ offer to play in his band. Gaebel is one of the leading tenor saxophonists in Europe, Manin’s the same in Australasia.

The long-awaited release of the Gjazz5 album is a colossal milestone. Oli looks back on his 30 CD albums (as a collaborator and initiator) and calls Gjazz5 his “flagship” project. 3 years of production, several trips to Europe to record and mix the tracks, mastering, etc. The recording took place in the renowned Fattoria Musica in Germany. 12 of Oli’s pieces were recorded as well as Terreon Gully’s composition “Tanktified”, which was mixed at the Fattoria and then mastered in LA by Grammy Award winning Kelly Hibbert. The result: 13 tracks with an amazing sound, each of which is unique: there is funk, afro style, hip hop, disco, salsa, odd time signatures, ballads and much more. A dazzling mix of genres that are permeated by jazz and simply have to be “checked out”!

CD1:

1. $10 Per Rat
2. MRS. Bombastic
3. Morse Code
4. What?
5. For Heidi
6. Easyaz!

CD2:

1. Tanktified
2. Dog
3. Venus Fly Trap
4. Bad Tuesday
5. Don’t Worry
6. Van Dump
7. 10C Per Fly

Olivier Holland, bass
Geoffrey Keezer, piano
Terreon Gully, drums
Denis Gaebel, saxophone
Roger Manins, saxophone
Special Guest:
Joscho Stephan, guitar