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This November, 1972 recording is Dave Holland's first release as a bandleader. It is also, in my opinion, one of the great jazz albums of the 1970s. The roster comprises three-fourths of Holland's former band, the recently defunct Circle (Anthony Braxton, Barry Altschul, Holland) and adds the great Sam Rivers (with whom Holland would go on to have a long association) to complete the quartet — which, in retrospect, was a dream lineup of four of the biggest talents of the '70s jazz avant-garde. With the fourth member on sax and reeds instead of a piano, this group produced a sound that was much different from Circle. Holland takes full advantage of the talent in front of him and opts to lay low on this session, arranging his compositions to play to the strengths of his two leads. The title of the album would suggest as much, if a Charlie Parker reference is read into it. In this sense — the context of a great young soloist making an excellent first album as a leader that does not spotlight his own playing — Conference of the Birds reminds me of John McLaughlin's first album, Extrapolation. The music is definitely "out," but I've always found it to be among the most accessible of the avant-garde garde jazz albums that I own. One of the reasons for this is the thoughtful composition of the tunes; despite freely-improvised sections, each piece on the album seems to have a strong sense of purpose and provides the listener with an intelligent, interesting way of reaching its destination. Another important reason is the role of Holland and Altschul in this music. Both players take the occasional risk, but mostly they provide a very solid, deceptively familiar anchor for the more free-wheeling exploits of Braxton and Rivers. Sometimes, like on "Four Winds," "Interception," and "See-Saw," they even swing. It's tough for me to pick highlights here, since I think that every track is great at what it tries to be. As for the rest of the songs, "Q&A" and "Now Here (Nowhere)" are the most free-form on the album and the title track is the most conventional. "Conference of the Birds" basically repeats the same simple theme throughout, but the effect it creates is so majestic and spiritual that I have to consider it my favorite track on the record. Holland would spend most of the rest of the 1970s playing in Anthony Braxton's band (most of these albums are excellent and well worth looking for) and wouldn't record under his own name as a bandleader again until the mid-1980s. By that time, he was playing a different kind of music. Thus, Conference of the Birds — along with Holland's album of bass duets with Barre Phillips (Music From Two Basses) — is a very valuable early album by one of the greatest jazz musicians to emerge from the post-bop era. review by Matt P. — 5-22-06 —