Joe Holt

Joe Holt: In the Spirit of Dave McKenna

by C. Michael Bailey
January 26, 2013

The late Dave McKenna (1930-2008) belonged to a group of pianists that include Ralph Sutton (1922-2001), Dick Wellstood (1927-1987) and the very much alive Dick Hyman. These are durable, traditional jazz pianists, well-versed in stride, with enormous genre and technical vocabularies. McKenna recorded many enjoyable discs for the Concord and Arbors labels and deserves the acknowledgement Joe Holt gives him on In The Spirit of Dave McKenna. Holt, a native of Chestertown, MD, is a music educator ...