Richard "Groove" Holmes
Many Eastern and Midwestern musicians helped sustain the West Coast jazz scene in the ’50s and ’60s, but the only one among them who made an impact in Southern California on Hammond organ was New Jersey native Richard “Groove” Holmes. This was Holmes’s first recording for Prestige, and it both confirmed his status as one of the B-3’s leading practitioners and elevated his profile with the crossover success of “Misty.” Armed with a talented and t… MORE
MORE RELEASES FROM RICHARD "GROOVE" HOLMES
Celebrated for his massive sound and driving bass lines, Hammond B-3 organ master Richard "Groove" Holmes was on the verge of a major… More
with Gene Edwards, George Randall Recorded in performance at Count Basie's Club, New York City; April 22, 1966. More
Richard "Groove" Holmes cooks like crazy on the 1968 dates collected here. The Groover! is a trio session distinguished by a… More
In 1967, when the two LPs that comprise this CD were recorded, organist extraordinaire Richard "Groove" Holmes was still riding high from… More
Erroll Garner’s “Misty,” one of the most beautiful ballads of the past 40 years, has also enjoyed a second life as hard-driving… More
Best known for his 1966 hit single of "Misty," which brought soul-jazz to the pop charts, the aptly-nicknamed organist Richard… More
ABOUT RICHARD "GROOVE" HOLMES
One of the top jazz organists to emerge on the scene after Jimmy Smith’s initial success, Richard “Groove” Holmes (1931-1991) recorded a series of soul jazz sets for Prestige that helped set the direction for that label in the late 1960s.
Holmes worked in small clubs in the Pittsburgh and New Jersey area until he was discovered by Les McCann in 1960. After recording several sets for Pacific Jazz, he was signed to Prestige in 1965 and immediately had a jukebox hit with a catchy double-time version of “Misty.”
Groove Holmes recorded regularly for Prestige during 1965-1968. Soul Message includes “Misty” along with other medium-tempo ballads, soulful originals, and tunes with boogaloo rhythms. Misty repeats the hit and features some other catchy arrangements of standards. Blue Groove reissues two former LPs (Get Up & Get It and Soul Mist) and features such notable sidemen as tenor saxophonist Teddy Edwards, trumpeter Blue Mitchell, and guitarist Pat Martino. Groove Holmes’s final Prestige albums, The Groover and That Healin’ Feelin’, are reissued in full on his Legends of Acid Jazz. Saxophonist Rusty Bryant is a strong asset on the latter set.
Like many other organists in the mid-1970s, Holmes experimented a bit with electric keyboards. But he soon realized that his musical personality was really to be found on the organ so he switched back, staying active as one of the top organists on the soul-jazz scene until his death in 1991.