Expect the Unexpected at Hall-Holland Performance

The opportunity to hear two first-class jazz artists working in a pure, one-on-one setting doesn’t come along very often. This makes the appearance of guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Dave Holland on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Jazz Bakery one of the more potentially intriguing events of the fall season.

Hall has a resume that ranges from his work as an original member of the Chico Hamilton quintet in the ‘50s through some momentous engagements with Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond, Jimmy Giuffre, Ella Fitzgerald and Bill Evans. Holland’s credentials are equally impressive, ranging from Miles Davis (most notably on the “Bitches Brew” album) and Chick Corea to Stan Getz, Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock.

Yet, amazingly, Hall, 67, and Holland, 51, have never worked together.

“That’s something, isn’t it?” says Hall with a laugh. “It seems as though we’ve known each other forever, and we’ve tried to get together several times, but it’s just never happened before.”

The Bakery appearance is a fortuitous stop-off in advance of a brief tour in Japan, and Hall expects the pair’s performances to unfold in extremely spontaneous fashion.

“We rehearsed once up at my place in the woods, briefly, and Dave’s coming over Monday to get together and see what we can do. I’ve got some of his tunes and he has a bunch of mine, and I guess we’ll do some standards and just feel things out. It’ll be a real maiden voyage.”

But it’s the kind of setting both players prefer, in part because the minimal, chamber jazz environment--without the distractions of horns and percussion--creates a musical atmosphere in which anything is possible.

“I don’t really like jam session structure, with horns and stuff,” he says. “I really prefer getting down to the essentials. And with Dave, I think that’s what’ll happen. We’ll sort of provoke one another, and the fact that it’s just the two of us means we can be a lot looser, and spontaneously go in any direction we want, whether it’s into complete freedom or the blues.”

* Jim Hall & Dave Holland at the Jazz Bakery, Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30 and 10 p.m. 3233 Helms Ave. $20. (310) 271-9039.

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Jazz & Wine: Singer Diana Krall will be the headliner for “Jazz at the Vineyards III” on Saturday night at an annual Napa Valley wine-tasting event benefiting the Starlight Children’s Foundation. The show features a gourmet dinner, an auction of vintage wines and the unveiling of a new work, “Jazz,” by kinetic sculptor Frederick Prescott. Shari Belafonte is the host. Ticket prices are $250 per person, with proceeds supporting the 15-year-old foundation’s continuing work with seriously ill children and their families. Information: (310) 207-5558. Ext. 104.

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Jazz on the Beach: Internationalism will be the theme at the Santa Barbara Jazz Festival from Sept. 25 to 27. The event’s headliners are Dave Brubeck and Les McCann. But the more unusual entries in the three-day celebration include Russia’s Oleg Lundstrem Moscow Big Band and the Moskitos (a group of five Russian teenagers), Australia’s highly praised pianist John Foreman in his U.S. debut, Cuba’s hard-swinging Cubanismo, Brazil’s vocalist Teka, and percussionist Luis Munos from Costa Rica. Also in the mix, the locally based Estrada Brothers, one of the finest Latin jazz ensembles of the ‘90s.

The festival, now celebrating its 10th year, subtitles its program “World Music Beach Party,” and the location--at Leadbetter Beach in Santa Barbara, surrounded by ocean and beach and bluffs--has the right ambience to deliver on all counts. In addition, the prices, especially given the quality of the lineup, are extremely reasonable. General single-day admission ranges from $8 to $13 a person, and $30 for a weekend pass. Reserved seats are $13 to $20, and $45 for weekend passes. Tickets: (800) 765-6255. More information at the Festival Web site at https://www.sbweb.com/jazz

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Jazz in Print: The third edition of the “All Music Guide to Jazz: The Experts’ Guide to the Best Jazz Recordings” (Miller Freeman, $29.95) is now in bookstores. Fifty percent larger than the previous edition, the guide reviews and rates 18,000 recordings by 17,000 musicians, and includes a brief jazz history, as well as essays on jazz styles, jazz singers and jazz innovators.