There's a certain difficulty that arises when describing the experience of seeing great live jazz. Call it the "vibe," the overall time-feel or some type of spiritual connection that the players make with each other when improvising. However you put it, there is an emotional, transcendental element of live jazz that can hardly be expressed in words. A few words do come to mind, however, when I think of the Dave Holland Quintet's performance last Friday at the Regattabar in Cambridge-words like startling, raw, innovative and dense. The moment the quintet came on stage, I instantly sensed the "vibe." I felt this before they played any notes, when they had just picked up their instruments. Even when they were just warming up, the musicians handled their instruments like they were extra arms. It's not every day I see people play horns who have spent the majority their lives acquainting themselves with them. Dave Holland, especially, manipulated his bass with a type of energy and wisdom that I had never seen before.

Holland was the bassist for Miles Davis in the trumpeter's Bitches Brew era and has continued to rise in prominence in modern jazz fusion. He has played with an assortment of other big names in jazz, including Chick Corea, Joe Henderson, Pat Metheny, Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock over the course of his five-decade career.

The Dave Holland Quintet, which consists of Holland, trombonist Robin Eubanks, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, drummer Nate Smith and tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, played a total of four sets last weekend, with 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. performances on Friday and Saturday.

I caught the late set on Friday, and the venue was packed. The environment was sophisticated and friendly, and I could tell that everyone present had a deep respect for each member of the quintet. Rather than rows of seats, the Regattabar seats listeners at tables of four, so people may engage in casual conversation with each other or order food and drinks. My friend and I sat near the front right next to Nelson's vibraphones.

We soon realized that we had some of the best seats as we could carefully observe Nelson's playing. While accompanying other soloists, he'd use three or four mallets, but he would switch to two for his virtuosic solos. During one of his improvisations, he played so furiously that I felt like the mallets were flying out toward me. Every hit of the vibraphone was precise, yet unexpected enough in timing to keep the rhythm exciting.

The entire quintet was, in fact, characterized by this sense of rhythm that was simultaneously rock-solid and syncopated, which kept me on the edge of my seat. This is due in part to Holland's love for odd meters and polyrhythmic figures. I lost track of the downbeat often if I did not count carefully, but Smith's spectacular drumming and Holland's ingenious bass lines kept my foot tapping. Eubanks gave an especially stellar solo in "Secret Garden" that demonstrated the group's mastery of irregular rhythms, emphasizing select offbeats and creating an alternate groove within his solo.

The other horn player, Chris Potter, is an entirely different story. My friend referred to him as "John Coltrane on crack," but his style is completely his own. I could see Coltrane's "sheets of sound" quality in many of Potter's ridiculously fast improvisations, but he uses a variety of other techniques that create excitement. The quintet ended the set with "Vicissitudes," one of Potter's compositions in which the saxophonist demonstrated a type of modern ferocity that was never found in jazz during Coltrane's time. He is, in my opinion, one of the best current jazz saxophonists in the world, a view shared by many others.

It wasn't a specific solo or segment of the concert, however, that left me feeling dazed after seeing the Dave Holland Quintet. I do recall a few moments that stood out, such as when Dave Holland broke into a sizzling groove during one of his solos, but it was the combination of astounding rhythm and improvisation from each player that, to put it plainly, blew my mind.

Those who don't usually listen to groups like the Dave Holland Quintet are missing out on a thrilling and constantly evolving form of music. The modern jazz scene in Boston and Cambridge is huge. The Regattabar, which is located in the Charles Hotel at 1 Bennett St in Cambridge, features at least four shows a week, and tickets are generally only around $20. Next week begins the annual Jazz Week, when Boston will host tons of jazz artists from around the area from April 23 through May 2. Performance schedules and more information can be found at www.jazzboston.org.