Results for "Richard "Groove" Holmes"

Richard "Groove" Holmes

Born: May 2, 1931

Richard Arnold "Groove" Holmes, Born Richard Arnold Jackson (Camden, New Jersey) was a jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of "Misty," and is considered a precursor of acid jazz. Holmes burst onto the music scene in the early 1960s (his first album, on Pacific Jazz with guest {{Ben Webster = 11235}} was recorded in March 1961). An African-American, literally a heavyweight (approximately 300 pounds) and physically rotund in stature, he gained immediate respect with an inimitable style of his own. His sound was immediately recognizable in the upper register, but even more so because of his virtuosity in creating, undoubtedly, the most rapid, punctuating, and pulsating basslines of all the jazz organists

The Radam Schwartz Organ Big Band: Message from Groove and GW

by Jack Bowers
September 25, 2020

Liner notes notwithstanding, the alliance of a big band and organ is hardly unique—Jimmy Smith, Richard “Groove" Holmes and Joey DeFrancesco are organ maestros who have been there and done that; even the great Oscar Peterson once dipped his toes into that water. Having said that, organist Radam Schwartz and his power-laden New Jersey-based ensemble do ...

Back At The Chicken Shack

by Thomas Fletcher
June 20, 2020

Back At The Chicken Shack celebrates 60 years since its recording date at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs. The same session produced Midnight Special (Blue Note, 1961), though Back At The Chicken Shack would have to wait three years for its release. The label's co-founder, Alfred Lion, later revealed that the healthy sales of ...

Jazz Musician of the Day: Richard "Groove" Holmes

May 2, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Richard “Groove" Holmes' birthday today! Richard Arnold “Groove" Holmes, Born Richard Arnold Jackson (Camden, New Jersey) was a jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of “Misty," and is considered a precursor of acid jazz. Holmes burst onto ...

Richard 'Groove' Holmes & Jimmy McGriff - The Preacher's Tune

Featuring the music of Richard "Groove" Holmes
Duration: 10:06
June 21, 2019

Joey DeFrancesco: From Musical Prodigy to Jazz Icon

by Victor L. Schermer
June 2, 2019

Joey DeFrancesco is a true master of the jazz organ, the one others look up to as the standard bearer, as was his inspirational hero, Jimmy Smith. Arguably, he could be dubbed the Mozart of the jazz organ, since like Mozart, he seemed to have been born with all the music already in him. By four, ...

Jazz Musician of the Day: Richard "Groove" Holmes

May 2, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Richard “Groove" Holmes' birthday today! Richard Arnold “Groove" Holmes, Born Richard Arnold Jackson (Camden, New Jersey) was a jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of “Misty," and is considered a precursor of acid jazz. Holmes burst onto ...

Jazz is Mod: An Introduction to the Mod Jazz Series

by Jakob Baekgaard
November 16, 2018

In England there is a solid tradition for crate digging and appreciation of American music. In fact, the whole idea of Northern Soul is based on the concept of English hipsters digging out rare soul gems in the sixties and giving them new life on the dance floor. However, the English mod scene, as it was ...

Ben Paterson: Live at Van Gelder's

by Jack Bowers
October 6, 2018

Jazz organ trios have been with us for well over half a century now with not much change in nature or design. There are basically two explicit issues that any such band must address: has it chosen its material with care, and even more to the point, does it swing. Happily, organist Ben Paterson's tight-knit group ...

Jazz Musician of the Day: Richard "Groove" Holmes

May 2, 2018

All About Jazz is celebrating Richard “Groove" Holmes' birthday today! Richard Arnold “Groove" Holmes, Born Richard Arnold Jackson (Camden, New Jersey) was a jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of “Misty," and is considered a precursor of acid jazz. Holmes burst onto ...