Top 10 Quotes & Sayings by Dave Holland

I think that what is important is that the music be honest and direct and that it is relevant to today. I think music needs to be of its time and speak to that time.

I started playing with a group of young people when I was 13. I turned professional when I was 15 and I played dance halls, this on bass guitar.

I think there is great interest amongst the younger people in this music. I think that there is a lot of them that are looking for interesting situations and music that is stimulating.

You have to find a way to protect yourself in a certain way from people who are constantly demanding your time.

To me, at its best, that's what art should do, perform both the emotional and intellectual function.

I want to be surprised by what people do, I don't want to work with people who need to be told what to do. I want people to show me what they've got.

In fact, jazz has such a great feeling and great emotional content that it really doesn't require you to have technical understanding of it. I think you just have to allow your feelings to go with the music and you will find yourself carried along by it fairly quickly.

The whole point in developing your own style is to find your own voice.

All of the musicians when I was young used to always say you had to tell a story when you're a musician.

It was only when I started to dig my heels in that I started to realize that's what I needed to do - that nobody was going to open the door for me, that I had to make some space.