Ron Holloway
Encyclopedia
Ronald Edward "Ron" Holloway (born August 24, 1953, Washington, D.C.
, United States
) is an American tenor saxophonist. He is listed in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz
where veteran jazz critic Ira Gitler
described Holloway as a "bear-down-hard-bopper who can blow authentic R&B and croon a ballad with warm, blue feeling." Holloway is the recipient of 42 Washington Area Music Awards
, or Wammies
, two of which he received as musician of the year.
Holloway has worked with Susan Tedeschi
, Dizzy Gillespie
, Gil Scott-Heron
and Root Boy Slim
. He is currently a member of The Warren Haynes
Band.
in Washington, D.C. Holloway recalls his father adding to his collection of Prestige
and Blue Note
jazz albums; something he has kept up until the present day. Holloway's parents, while not musicians, provided a nurturing musical environment for their son. Holloway's father favored the saxophone and trumpet
-led albums and particularly enjoyed the great horn solo
ists.R&B-influenced Willis Gator Jackson was easiest to grasp at first, but soon he identified the sounds of Sonny Rollins
, John Coltrane
and Miles Davis
as his principle influences.
After high school graduation, Holloway routinely practiced 8–12 hours a day along with sitting in with bands of all kinds, in jam sessions
, which resulted in broadening his versatility. He became familiar with a wide variety of genres. Holloway would frequently perform with jazz, R&B, funk, rock, jazz fusion
, blues, country and folk music
groups, within the same week. As the Washington D.C. music scene continued to thrive in the 1970s, Holloway joined his first D.C. based bands; popular R&B groups called 'The Sounds of Shea' and 'Mad Dog & the Lowlifers'.
In 1974, Holloway went to see Freddie Hubbard
in concert and brought an audio cassette tape he'd made while rehearsing to one of Hubbard's recordings. During the intermission he introduced himself and played the tape for Hubbard. After hearing the tape, Hubbard invited Holloway to come back and play with him that Sunday night. He did so and at the end of the performance Hubbard extended an open invitation to sit in with him whenever Hubbard was in town. The next year, Sonny Rollins
conducted a clinic at Howard University. Backed by a rhythm section
composed of local musicians, Rollins invited the young horn players onstage. Holloway joined him on Rollins' "Playin' in the Yard". After his solo, Holloway received a standing ovation
from the audience. Rollins and Holloway remained in touch afterwards, becoming good friends. The friendship and respect between the two ran both ways. Rollins has been equally generous in his praise of Holloway over the years and has mentioned him in several interviews as one of his favorite young tenor players. Holloway enjoyed "his sense of organic construction, ambidextrous timing, humorous quotes, swagger, keen sense of drama and unique tonal texture."
In the summer of 1977 a new club opened and the performers included Rollins, Hubbard and Dizzy Gillespie
. Holloway approached Gillespie's dressing room and as he had done with Rollins, brought a tape with him- this time of his performance with Rollins. After Gillespie listened to the tape, he asked Holloway if he had brought his horn, to which Holloway confessed he hadn't because he was concerned about appearing presumptuous. Holloway found himself performing with Gillespie all week. Afterwards, he had a standing invitation to sit in with the band. In 1979 Holloway sat in with Dizzy Gillespie at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
in London, England. Holloway continued to sit in with Gillespie well into the eighties and on June 6, 1987, performed with a large group of musicians honoring Gillespie at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
.
which was written by Michael O'Donoghue
of Saturday Night Live
fame. Mondo Video was not broadcast as NBC deemed it "sick" while Spin
later referred to it as "A TV pilot too dangerous to air." In the early 1980s, Root Boy and Holloway made cameo
appearances in a film made by the D.C. area comedy group known as The Langley Punks, for their Travesty Films group. Holloway recorded four albums with Root Boy and at least three 45's: "Too Much Jawbone" with "Xmas at K-Mart" on the flip side, "The Meltdown" backed with "Graveyard of Losers" and "Dare To Be Fat" on I.R.S. Records
. Holloway was a member of several Root Boy configurations from 1977-1987.
Holloway's tenure with Root Boy Slim
overlapped with two other groups. The first was a local funk band called Osiris. Holloway first met Osiris Marsh in 1979 and found their influences included bands with eclectic tastes ranging from Parliament-Funkadelic
, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Sly and the Family Stone. In addition, Osiris was interested in the culture of ancient Egypt
and African American
roots music
. The members of Osiris were Osiris Marsh on lead vocals, Tony Jones and Tyrone "Ty" Brunson on bass guitar
s, Maceo Bond on keyboards
, Brent Mingle on guitar
, Jimmy "Sha-Sha" Stapleton on percussion and Holloway on tenor and soprano saxophones. As a band they produced "the most unalloyed, dirty and downright nasty Funk imaginable." Marsh, who wrote or co-wrote the majority of the band's songs with Bond and Brunson, produced an independent
studio album on the band's own label, "Tomdog", titled Since Before Our Time in 1978. In 1979, Warner Bros. Records
picked it up, remixed and repackaged it. Another album, O-Zone, on Marlin Records
, met with similar reviews and faced the same overall inability to overcome the dance floor fever that enticed many funk and soul listeners towards disco, as the 1970s came to an end. Holloway played with Osiris from 1979 to 1981.
, where he had been told jazz drummer
Norman Connors
would be performing. He brought his horn and upon arriving spotted Connors and introduced himself. With an invitation from Connors, he sat in on the next set, getting a good response from the audience. Afterward, Holloway was approached by singer and spoken word
artist, Gil Scott-Heron
, who complimented him and extended an offer to join his group, the "Amnesia Express". In February, 1982 Holloway played his first concert with Scott-Heron at the Bottom Line
in New York City
with fellow saxophonist and Amnesia Express co-founder Carl Cornwell. The press appreciated his contributions as well, commenting on his performance in several reviews. It happened that, early in 1982, Holloway was on board when filmmaker Robert Mugge
document
ed Scott-Heron's concert at the Wax Museum nightclub in Washington, D.C. The film is called Black Wax. Holloway found his playing evolving while in the band, commenting, "I got so many things together on my horn while playing with Gil. It was really a valuable period of self discovery." Holloway was a member of Scott-Heron's group from February 1982 until June 1989.
In June 1989 he was sitting in with Dizzy at Blues Alley
. During the intermission, Gillespie sent his manager to find Holloway. Gillespie surprised Holloway with the statement he was in need of a sax player. Holloway accepted and found himself touring the world with Gillespie, performing for audiences that varied from club capacity to popular American television shows which included the Johnny Carson
and Arsenio Hall
shows. During his tenure with Gillespie, Holloway recorded two albums with the trumpeter; The Symphony Sessions on Pro Arte and Dizzy Gillespie - Live! at Blues Alley, on the Blues Alley imprint. He also played the top Jazz and music festivals, clubs, theaters and concert halls around the world with Gillespie. Holloway was a member of Gillespie's quintet from June 1989 until his death on January 6, 1993.
and Holloway was signed to Milestone Records
, one of Fantasy's subsidiary labels, within a week's time. To date, Holloway has released four albums on Fantasy's Milestone Records label and another on the Jazzmont label.
, Jamaica
, inviting fans to attend and in early February 2006, Holloway made the trip and appeared as a guest during the 4th Annual Featfan Excursion.
in 2002 aboard Trucks' tour bus just outside the entrance to Rams Head Onstage, in Annapolis, Maryland. Trucks surprised him with his vast knowledge of various musical genres. Holloway has since performed with Trucks many times as a guest of The Derek Trucks Band
and The Allman Brothers Band
, toured with both the Susan Tedeschi
Band (of which Holloway was a member) and the band co-led by Trucks and Tedeschi for a couple of summers, "Soul Stew Revival".
On September 30, 2004, Little Feat were scheduled to open for the Allman Brothers Band at Nissan Pavilion
in Bristow, Virginia
. Holloway was to accompany Little Feat. Aside from Little Feat, Holloway found himself in the company of the two featured guitarists in The Allman Brothers Band
. This was the first time he had heard the band with its current lineup. Warren Haynes invited Holloway to sit in with the band and at the close of the concert, he performed on one of the classic tunes made famous by the band; "Southbound". Haynes invited Holloway to appear with Gov't Mule
afterward at the 9:30 Club
in Washington, D.C., and they performed two consecutive nights on October 27 and 28, 2004 before a packed house, recording both nights.
The next year, in the summer of 2005, guitarist Jack Pearson and Holloway toured with The Allman Brothers Band, filling in for an ailing Warren Haynes. It was the beginning of many performances where Holloway appeared with The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule, playing the Beacon Theatre in New York City, Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia
, the Wanee Festival
in Live Oak, Florida
, Merriweather Post Pavilion
in Columbia, Maryland
, Warner Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
and The Warren Haynes Christmas Jam
,
which Haynes hosts annually, in Asheville, North Carolina
.
In January 2010, Gov't Mule hosted their first "Gov't Mule Island Exodus" in the same resort in Negril, Jamaica that Holloway had visited with Little Feat. Over the course of the four nights, Gov't Mule performed three evening concerts, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
played three shows and Warren Haynes played a solo set. Guesting throughout were DJ Logic
(turntables), "Mean" Willie Green (drums) and Holloway (tenor sax).
, Susan Tedeschi
perform with her own group at Rams Head Live!
in Baltimore, Maryland. Tedeschi and Holloway met previously a couple of years before while guesting with her husband, Derek Trucks, at the Wanee Festival
and a show at The Birchmere
, (in suburb
an Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.). After renewing their acquaintance and performing that night, Tedeschi invited Holloway to join her band. For the next few years, the band toured across Europe and extensively throughout the United States, playing major festivals,
concert halls, theaters and clubs. Tedeschi, along with her band have also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
and have been seen on countless local news spots as they toured across the United States. Along with the airplay her recordings receive, Tedeschi has performed live many times on radio stations across the country, including NPR.
Holloway was a member of Tedeschi's band for four years.
while playing with The Allman Brothers Band, Holloway encountered his son, Devon Allman at the Iota Club & Cafe in Arlington, Virginia
on March 31, 2009 when Devon's band Honeytribe
performed there. Allman contacted Holloway when his band, Honeytribe
were preparing to record their second album and had need of a saxophone player. Holloway traveled to Memphis, Tennessee
and spent two days recording with the band at Ardent Studios
for Honeytribe's sophomore release; Space Age Blues
. The CD was released in October 2010 to positive reviews.
with Gordie Johnson
as co-producer and engineer. The recording featured George Porter Jr. on electric bass, Ivan Neville
on keyboards, Raymond Weber on drums, Ian McLagan
on additional keyboards, Ruthie Foster
on vocals and Holloway on tenor saxophone. The resulting album, Man in Motion, was released on May 10, 2011 on the Stax
/Concord Music Group
label.
The debut of The Warren Haynes Band took place during the 22nd Annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam
, which was held at the Asheville Civic Center
in Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday, December 11, 2010. The group line-up was; Warren Haynes (lead vocals/guitar), Ivan Neville (keys/vocals), Ron Johnson (electric bass), Terence Higgins (drums), Ruthie Foster (vocals) and Holloway (tenor saxophone). After the release of Man In Motion, Holloway joined Haynes, Higgins, Johnson, and keyboardist Nigel Hall for an extensive tour.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) is an American tenor saxophonist. He is listed in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
where veteran jazz critic Ira Gitler
Ira Gitler
Ira Gitler is an American jazz historian and journalist. Perhaps best known for The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz written with Leonard Feather—the most recent edition appeared in 1999—he has written hundreds of liner notes for jazz recordings since the early 1950s and is the author of dozens...
described Holloway as a "bear-down-hard-bopper who can blow authentic R&B and croon a ballad with warm, blue feeling." Holloway is the recipient of 42 Washington Area Music Awards
Washington Area Music Awards
The Washington Area Music Awards are a music award for Washington, D.C. area performers, issued by the Washington Area Music Association . The awards are issued at an annual awards program....
, or Wammies
Wammies
Wammies can refer to one of two regional United States music awards:* Washington Area Music Awards, for Washington, D.C. area artists* SF Weekly Music Awards, for San Francisco Bay Area artists...
, two of which he received as musician of the year.
Holloway has worked with Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi is an American blues and soul musician, who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, and is well-known for her singing voice, guitar playing, stage presence, and marriage to blues guitarist Derek Trucks...
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron
Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
and Root Boy Slim
Root Boy Slim
Root Boy Slim was the stage name assumed by American musician, Foster MacKenzie III. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, he was raised in suburban Maryland, a few minutes from D.C. after his family relocated there...
. He is currently a member of The Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...
Band.
Early years and influences
Ron Holloway was born to Winston and Marjorie Holloway, avid jazz fans who met while attending Howard UniversityHoward University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
in Washington, D.C. Holloway recalls his father adding to his collection of Prestige
Prestige Records
Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
and Blue Note
Blue note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...
jazz albums; something he has kept up until the present day. Holloway's parents, while not musicians, provided a nurturing musical environment for their son. Holloway's father favored the saxophone and trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
-led albums and particularly enjoyed the great horn solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
ists.R&B-influenced Willis Gator Jackson was easiest to grasp at first, but soon he identified the sounds of Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
, John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
and Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
as his principle influences.
After high school graduation, Holloway routinely practiced 8–12 hours a day along with sitting in with bands of all kinds, in jam sessions
Jam Sessions
Jam Sessions is a guitar simulation software title and music game for the Nintendo DS based on the Japan-only title Sing & Play DS Guitar M-06 originally developed by Plato. It was brought to North America and Europe, courtesy of Ubisoft...
, which resulted in broadening his versatility. He became familiar with a wide variety of genres. Holloway would frequently perform with jazz, R&B, funk, rock, jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
, blues, country and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
groups, within the same week. As the Washington D.C. music scene continued to thrive in the 1970s, Holloway joined his first D.C. based bands; popular R&B groups called 'The Sounds of Shea' and 'Mad Dog & the Lowlifers'.
In 1974, Holloway went to see Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
in concert and brought an audio cassette tape he'd made while rehearsing to one of Hubbard's recordings. During the intermission he introduced himself and played the tape for Hubbard. After hearing the tape, Hubbard invited Holloway to come back and play with him that Sunday night. He did so and at the end of the performance Hubbard extended an open invitation to sit in with him whenever Hubbard was in town. The next year, Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
conducted a clinic at Howard University. Backed by a rhythm section
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
composed of local musicians, Rollins invited the young horn players onstage. Holloway joined him on Rollins' "Playin' in the Yard". After his solo, Holloway received a standing ovation
Standing ovation
A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim...
from the audience. Rollins and Holloway remained in touch afterwards, becoming good friends. The friendship and respect between the two ran both ways. Rollins has been equally generous in his praise of Holloway over the years and has mentioned him in several interviews as one of his favorite young tenor players. Holloway enjoyed "his sense of organic construction, ambidextrous timing, humorous quotes, swagger, keen sense of drama and unique tonal texture."
In the summer of 1977 a new club opened and the performers included Rollins, Hubbard and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
. Holloway approached Gillespie's dressing room and as he had done with Rollins, brought a tape with him- this time of his performance with Rollins. After Gillespie listened to the tape, he asked Holloway if he had brought his horn, to which Holloway confessed he hadn't because he was concerned about appearing presumptuous. Holloway found himself performing with Gillespie all week. Afterwards, he had a standing invitation to sit in with the band. In 1979 Holloway sat in with Dizzy Gillespie at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club which has operated in London since 1959.The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was managed by musicians Ronnie Scott and Pete King. In 1965 it moved to a larger venue nearby at 47 Frith Street...
in London, England. Holloway continued to sit in with Gillespie well into the eighties and on June 6, 1987, performed with a large group of musicians honoring Gillespie at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, known locally in the Washington, D.C. area as simply Wolf Trap, is a performing arts center located on 130 acres of national park land in Wolf Trap, Virginia...
.
Root Boy Slim and The Sex Change Band
In 1979 Root Boy, Holloway and the rest of the Sex Change Band participated in a film entitled Mr. Mike's Mondo VideoMr. Mike's Mondo Video
Mr. Mike's Mondo Video was a 1979 movie conceived by Saturday Night Live writer/featured player Michael O'Donoghue.-Plot:Mondo Video was a spoof of the controversial 1962 documentary Mondo Cane, showing people doing weird stunts. The logo for this film copies the original Mondo Cane logo...
which was written by Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York...
of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
fame. Mondo Video was not broadcast as NBC deemed it "sick" while Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
later referred to it as "A TV pilot too dangerous to air." In the early 1980s, Root Boy and Holloway made cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
appearances in a film made by the D.C. area comedy group known as The Langley Punks, for their Travesty Films group. Holloway recorded four albums with Root Boy and at least three 45's: "Too Much Jawbone" with "Xmas at K-Mart" on the flip side, "The Meltdown" backed with "Graveyard of Losers" and "Dare To Be Fat" on I.R.S. Records
I.R.S. Records
I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the United States in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of Wishbone Ash, The Police, and later, Sting, as well as other bands. I.R.S. was the sister label of Copeland's Illegal Records .I.R.S...
. Holloway was a member of several Root Boy configurations from 1977-1987.
Holloway's tenure with Root Boy Slim
Root Boy Slim
Root Boy Slim was the stage name assumed by American musician, Foster MacKenzie III. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, he was raised in suburban Maryland, a few minutes from D.C. after his family relocated there...
overlapped with two other groups. The first was a local funk band called Osiris. Holloway first met Osiris Marsh in 1979 and found their influences included bands with eclectic tastes ranging from Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic is a funk, soul and rock music collective headed by George Clinton. Their style has been dubbed P-Funk. Collectively the group has existed under various names since the 1960s and has been known for top-notch musicianship, politically charged lyrics, outlandish concept albums...
, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Sly and the Family Stone. In addition, Osiris was interested in the culture of ancient Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
roots music
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
. The members of Osiris were Osiris Marsh on lead vocals, Tony Jones and Tyrone "Ty" Brunson on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
s, Maceo Bond on keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, Brent Mingle on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Jimmy "Sha-Sha" Stapleton on percussion and Holloway on tenor and soprano saxophones. As a band they produced "the most unalloyed, dirty and downright nasty Funk imaginable." Marsh, who wrote or co-wrote the majority of the band's songs with Bond and Brunson, produced an independent
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
studio album on the band's own label, "Tomdog", titled Since Before Our Time in 1978. In 1979, Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
picked it up, remixed and repackaged it. Another album, O-Zone, on Marlin Records
Marlin Records
Marlin Records was one of the record labels set-up by Henry Stone before he launched the successful TK Records....
, met with similar reviews and faced the same overall inability to overcome the dance floor fever that enticed many funk and soul listeners towards disco, as the 1970s came to an end. Holloway played with Osiris from 1979 to 1981.
Gil Scott-Heron
In November 1981 Holloway visited a landmark D.C. club; Blues AlleyBlues Alley
Blues Alley, founded in 1965, is a jazz dinner-and-nightclub in an alley off Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood.As of 2008, exclusively jazz musicians are booked into Blues Alley for approximately 360 nights out of the year....
, where he had been told jazz drummer
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Norman Connors
Norman Connors
Norman Connors is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, producer, and headliner, who has led some influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads.-Biography:...
would be performing. He brought his horn and upon arriving spotted Connors and introduced himself. With an invitation from Connors, he sat in on the next set, getting a good response from the audience. Afterward, Holloway was approached by singer and spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
artist, Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron
Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
, who complimented him and extended an offer to join his group, the "Amnesia Express". In February, 1982 Holloway played his first concert with Scott-Heron at the Bottom Line
Bottom Line
The Bottom Line was a music venue at 15 West Fourth Street between Mercer Street and Greene Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with fellow saxophonist and Amnesia Express co-founder Carl Cornwell. The press appreciated his contributions as well, commenting on his performance in several reviews. It happened that, early in 1982, Holloway was on board when filmmaker Robert Mugge
Robert Mugge
Robert Mugge is an American documentary film maker. He specializes in films about music and musicians.Mugge was born in Chicago and grew up primarily in the Washington, D.C. area. He received a B.A...
document
Document
The term document has multiple meanings in ordinary language and in scholarship. WordNet 3.1. lists four meanings :* document, written document, papers...
ed Scott-Heron's concert at the Wax Museum nightclub in Washington, D.C. The film is called Black Wax. Holloway found his playing evolving while in the band, commenting, "I got so many things together on my horn while playing with Gil. It was really a valuable period of self discovery." Holloway was a member of Scott-Heron's group from February 1982 until June 1989.
Dizzy Gillespie
Though he was a member of Scott-Heron's group during this period, Holloway continued to appear with Gillespie whenever he would perform in D.C.In June 1989 he was sitting in with Dizzy at Blues Alley
Blues Alley
Blues Alley, founded in 1965, is a jazz dinner-and-nightclub in an alley off Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood.As of 2008, exclusively jazz musicians are booked into Blues Alley for approximately 360 nights out of the year....
. During the intermission, Gillespie sent his manager to find Holloway. Gillespie surprised Holloway with the statement he was in need of a sax player. Holloway accepted and found himself touring the world with Gillespie, performing for audiences that varied from club capacity to popular American television shows which included the Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
and Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
shows. During his tenure with Gillespie, Holloway recorded two albums with the trumpeter; The Symphony Sessions on Pro Arte and Dizzy Gillespie - Live! at Blues Alley, on the Blues Alley imprint. He also played the top Jazz and music festivals, clubs, theaters and concert halls around the world with Gillespie. Holloway was a member of Gillespie's quintet from June 1989 until his death on January 6, 1993.
Solo recording
In the fall of 1993, Holloway recorded an album and sent the demo to his mentor, Sonny Rollins. Rollins, then forwarded the recording to Fantasy RecordsFantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
and Holloway was signed to Milestone Records
Milestone Records
Milestone Records is a United States based jazz record label, founded in 1966 by Orrin Keepnews and Dick Katz in New York City. The company was incorporated into Fantasy Records in 1972, since then it has been used for reissues as well as for new recordings....
, one of Fantasy's subsidiary labels, within a week's time. To date, Holloway has released four albums on Fantasy's Milestone Records label and another on the Jazzmont label.
Little Feat
Little Feat perform annually in NegrilNegril
Negril is a small but widely dispersed beach resort town located across parts of two Jamaican parishes of Westmoreland and Hanover. Westmoreland is the westernmost parish in Jamaica, located on the south side of the island...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, inviting fans to attend and in early February 2006, Holloway made the trip and appeared as a guest during the 4th Annual Featfan Excursion.
2000 to 2011
Holloway met Derek TrucksDerek Trucks
Derek Trucks is a Grammy Award-winning, American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded The Derek Trucks Band and worked as a session musician when he was still in his early teens. Throughout those teenage years, he toured with The Allman Brothers Band primarily as a slide...
in 2002 aboard Trucks' tour bus just outside the entrance to Rams Head Onstage, in Annapolis, Maryland. Trucks surprised him with his vast knowledge of various musical genres. Holloway has since performed with Trucks many times as a guest of The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band has been called a "group of musicians that share a passion for improvisation and musical exploration" by a reviewer at Allmusic....
and The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
, toured with both the Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi is an American blues and soul musician, who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, and is well-known for her singing voice, guitar playing, stage presence, and marriage to blues guitarist Derek Trucks...
Band (of which Holloway was a member) and the band co-led by Trucks and Tedeschi for a couple of summers, "Soul Stew Revival".
On September 30, 2004, Little Feat were scheduled to open for the Allman Brothers Band at Nissan Pavilion
Nissan Pavilion
Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia, is an outdoor live performance amphitheater in suburban Prince William County, about 35 miles west of Washington, DC...
in Bristow, Virginia
Bristow, Virginia
Bristow is an unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,910 in the 2000 census, and the 2009 estimate was 15,137....
. Holloway was to accompany Little Feat. Aside from Little Feat, Holloway found himself in the company of the two featured guitarists in The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
. This was the first time he had heard the band with its current lineup. Warren Haynes invited Holloway to sit in with the band and at the close of the concert, he performed on one of the classic tunes made famous by the band; "Southbound". Haynes invited Holloway to appear with Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
afterward at the 9:30 Club
9:30 Club
Foo Fighters Promise to come back to D.C. and play the 9:30 ClubNightclub 9:30 is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. Originally located at 930 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C., in the 1970s it was called the "Atlantis Club", and hosted primarily rock, New Wave, and punk bands...
in Washington, D.C., and they performed two consecutive nights on October 27 and 28, 2004 before a packed house, recording both nights.
The next year, in the summer of 2005, guitarist Jack Pearson and Holloway toured with The Allman Brothers Band, filling in for an ailing Warren Haynes. It was the beginning of many performances where Holloway appeared with The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule, playing the Beacon Theatre in New York City, Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia
Bristow, Virginia
Bristow is an unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,910 in the 2000 census, and the 2009 estimate was 15,137....
, the Wanee Festival
Wanee Festival
is an annual event hosted by the Allman Brothers Band, held since 2005 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, in Live Oak, FL. The festival is held outdoors on two stages, with usually 15 or more bands playing over two days. The event is generally held in the spring...
in Live Oak, Florida
Live Oak, Florida
Live Oak is a city in Suwannee County, Florida. The city is the county seat of Suwannee County and is located east of Tallahassee, Florida. The population was 6,480 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 6,828 ....
, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Merriweather Post Pavilion is an outdoor concert venue located within Symphony Woods, a 40-acre lot of preserved land in the heart of the planned community of Columbia, Maryland. It was named for the American Post Foods heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post...
in Columbia, Maryland
Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a planned community that consists of ten self-contained villages, located in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life. Creator and developer James W. Rouse saw the new community in terms of human values, not...
, Warner Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
Warner Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
The Warner Theatre is a theater located at 513 13th Street, N.W. in Downtown Washington, D.C.. The basement level is at 1299 Pennsylvania Avenue.-History:...
and The Warren Haynes Christmas Jam
The Warren Haynes Christmas Jam
Starting in 1989, Warren Haynes began inviting a variety of musicians to come and play in Asheville, North Carolina once a year for charity.The first show was dubbed, "The Christmas Jam: Musician's X-Mas Reunion" and was held at 45 Cherry, a local club in Asheville, on December 29, 1989...
,
which Haynes hosts annually, in Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
.
In January 2010, Gov't Mule hosted their first "Gov't Mule Island Exodus" in the same resort in Negril, Jamaica that Holloway had visited with Little Feat. Over the course of the four nights, Gov't Mule performed three evening concerts, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals is an American rock band from Waitsfield, Vermont.-Career:Grace Potter and the Nocturnals' lead vocalist is multi-instrumentalist Grace Potter, who attended St. Lawrence University for two years before pursuing music professionally...
played three shows and Warren Haynes played a solo set. Guesting throughout were DJ Logic
DJ Logic
DJ Logic is an American turntablist active primarily in jazz and with jam bands.Kibler was born and raised in The Bronx. An early interest in hip hop led to his using the turntables, practicing often. Kibler was also interested in funk and jazz music, and began collaborating with various musicians...
(turntables), "Mean" Willie Green (drums) and Holloway (tenor sax).
Susan Tedeschi
In October, 2005 Holloway finally heard blues and soul singerSoul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi is an American blues and soul musician, who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, and is well-known for her singing voice, guitar playing, stage presence, and marriage to blues guitarist Derek Trucks...
perform with her own group at Rams Head Live!
Rams Head Live!
Rams Head Live! is an indoor music venue, club, and bar located in Baltimore, Maryland. Located in the Power Plant Live! section of downtown Baltimore, and is surrounded by several other bars and clubs. Rams Head Live! opened on December 15, 2004 and received popular acclaim as an intimate and...
in Baltimore, Maryland. Tedeschi and Holloway met previously a couple of years before while guesting with her husband, Derek Trucks, at the Wanee Festival
Wanee Festival
is an annual event hosted by the Allman Brothers Band, held since 2005 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, in Live Oak, FL. The festival is held outdoors on two stages, with usually 15 or more bands playing over two days. The event is generally held in the spring...
and a show at The Birchmere
The Birchmere
The Birchmere is a concert hall in Alexandria, Virginia, known for presenting performers in the bluegrass, country, folk, and jazz genres. The main stage has table seating with dinner service. The room seats 500 people and the tables in front are about two feet from the stage...
, (in suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.). After renewing their acquaintance and performing that night, Tedeschi invited Holloway to join her band. For the next few years, the band toured across Europe and extensively throughout the United States, playing major festivals,
concert halls, theaters and clubs. Tedeschi, along with her band have also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
and have been seen on countless local news spots as they toured across the United States. Along with the airplay her recordings receive, Tedeschi has performed live many times on radio stations across the country, including NPR.
Holloway was a member of Tedeschi's band for four years.
Devon Allman and Honeytribe
Having been introduced to Gregg AllmanGregg Allman
Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...
while playing with The Allman Brothers Band, Holloway encountered his son, Devon Allman at the Iota Club & Cafe in Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
on March 31, 2009 when Devon's band Honeytribe
Honeytribe
Honeytribe is an American blues rock band formed in Saint Louis, Missouri. The founder and bandleader is Devon Allman, son of Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band, who is the lead guitarist, vocalist, and frontman. The other members are George Potsos on bass, and Justin Hanson on...
performed there. Allman contacted Holloway when his band, Honeytribe
Honeytribe
Honeytribe is an American blues rock band formed in Saint Louis, Missouri. The founder and bandleader is Devon Allman, son of Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band, who is the lead guitarist, vocalist, and frontman. The other members are George Potsos on bass, and Justin Hanson on...
were preparing to record their second album and had need of a saxophone player. Holloway traveled to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and spent two days recording with the band at Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios is a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee. Ardent Records/Ardent Music is the in-house label.- History :Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry and was initially a studio in his family's garage, where he recorded his first Ardent Records 45's. In 1966 the operation moved...
for Honeytribe's sophomore release; Space Age Blues
Space Age Blues
Space Age Blues is the second album by Devon Allman's Honeytribe. It was released in Europe on October 12, 2010, and in U.S.A on October 25, 2010...
. The CD was released in October 2010 to positive reviews.
Warren Haynes
In February 2009, Warren Haynes began work on a solo project at Pedernales Studio, in Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
with Gordie Johnson
Gordie Johnson
Gordie Johnson is a Canadian musician, best known as the front man for the reggae-rock band Big Sugar, and later southern rock band Grady.-Biography:...
as co-producer and engineer. The recording featured George Porter Jr. on electric bass, Ivan Neville
Ivan Neville
Ivan Neville is a multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of The Neville Brothers....
on keyboards, Raymond Weber on drums, Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan is an English keyboard instrumentalist, best known as a member of the English rock bands Small Faces and Faces.-Small Faces and Faces:...
on additional keyboards, Ruthie Foster
Ruthie Foster
Ruthie Foster is an American singer-songwriter of blues and folk music.Foster is from Gause, Texas and comes from a family of gospel singers. She studied music at McLennan Community College and then worked in the US Navy, where she started performing. Her debut was released in 1997 and she has...
on vocals and Holloway on tenor saxophone. The resulting album, Man in Motion, was released on May 10, 2011 on the Stax
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
/Concord Music Group
Concord Music Group
Concord Music Group is a record company owned by Village Roadshow formed in 2004 by the merger of Concord Records and Fantasy Records. In 2005, the company acquired the classics and jazz label Telarc International. On December 18, 2006, Concord announced the re-launch of the soul label Stax;...
label.
The debut of The Warren Haynes Band took place during the 22nd Annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam
The Warren Haynes Christmas Jam
Starting in 1989, Warren Haynes began inviting a variety of musicians to come and play in Asheville, North Carolina once a year for charity.The first show was dubbed, "The Christmas Jam: Musician's X-Mas Reunion" and was held at 45 Cherry, a local club in Asheville, on December 29, 1989...
, which was held at the Asheville Civic Center
Asheville Civic Center
The Asheville Civic Center is a 7,654-seat multi-purpose arena, in Asheville, North Carolina.It was home to the Asheville Altitude basketball team in the NBDL, before the franchise moved to Tulsa in 2005 and the United Hockey League's Asheville Smoke and also the SPHL's Asheville Aces.The venue...
in Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday, December 11, 2010. The group line-up was; Warren Haynes (lead vocals/guitar), Ivan Neville (keys/vocals), Ron Johnson (electric bass), Terence Higgins (drums), Ruthie Foster (vocals) and Holloway (tenor saxophone). After the release of Man In Motion, Holloway joined Haynes, Higgins, Johnson, and keyboardist Nigel Hall for an extensive tour.
as leader
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Slanted | Fantasy Records Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label... /Milestone Records Milestone Records Milestone Records is a United States based jazz record label, founded in 1966 by Orrin Keepnews and Dick Katz in New York City. The company was incorporated into Fantasy Records in 1972, since then it has been used for reissues as well as for new recordings.... |
| 1995 | Struttin | Fantasy Records/Milestone Records |
| 1996 | Scorcher | Fantasy Records/Milestone Records |
| 1998 | Groove Update | Fantasy Records/Milestone Records |
| 2003 | Ron Holloway & Friends Live at Montpelier | JazzMont Records |
with Dizzy Gillespie
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | The Symphony Sessions | Pro Arte Records |
| 1990 | Dizzy Gillespie Live! At Blues Alley Blues Alley Blues Alley, founded in 1965, is a jazz dinner-and-nightclub in an alley off Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood.As of 2008, exclusively jazz musicians are booked into Blues Alley for approximately 360 nights out of the year.... |
Blues Alley Music Society (BAMS) |