JAZZ REVIEWS : AVANT-GARDE ALIVE IN HOLLAND QUINTET

The avant-garde jazz of the 1960s was never the music’s most commercially promising form, so it was a bit surprising Friday night at McCabe’s guitar shop to find it functioning so effectively--two decades later--in the music of the Dave Holland Quintet.

Sparked by the leader’s razor-sharp bass lines, Marvin (Smitty) Smith’s kinetic drumming and the quirkily inventive alto saxophone lines of Steve Coleman, the quintet ripped through a 90-minute set which suggested not only that “free” jazz still contains plenty of room for creative exploration, but that it can possess a surprising degree of audience appeal, as well.

The pieces, mostly composed by Holland or Coleman, in some cases called for traditional, chord-based improvisations. But the most electrifying moments came when the players stretched out into the open spaces of pure spontaneity.

Coleman, one of the rare alto saxophonists of the last few years who seems to have found a voice of his own, was the most consistent soloist--fast and furious on “Fidget Time,” blowsily funky on “Blues For C.M.” and harmonically probing on “You I Love” (based on the chord changes of Cole Porter’s “I Love You”).

Drummer Smith sounded equally unique--a percussionist whose solos (especially on a duet with Holland titled “Walk Away”) were based on variation, development and timbre, rather than the more familiar drummer’s emotional blackmail of bombast for its own sake.

Trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and trombonist Robin Eubanks played well from moment to moment, but seemed content to assume more secondary roles for this program.