Richard "Groove" Holmes

Richard "Groove" Holmes

It's been almost three years since the passing of Richard "Groove" Holmes. I thought it would be fitting to write a short remembrance of one of America's musical treasures. Richard Arnold Holmes came to be known as "Groove." As Les McCann reminds us, "If you wanted to groove, that name that he had, Groove Holmes, was perfect, perfect."

Les played a key role in Groove's career when in 1960 he met up with him in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, restaurant. "I remember going to look for him, and I was told to look in this little restaurant--and it's one of the soul kinda places with greens and beans--and I walked in and I saw this huge person sitting at the table and the whole table was covered. I thought l could eat! But when I saw this! And then the capper was that he asked for a Diet Coke. I started laughing, and we hit it off right away somehow."

Les came back the next night to hear Groove, who was playing with Cat Anderson's band at that time. "And so when I went to hear him play again, I thought I was in the midst of something very special. And I asked him would he like to make a record, and that was the beginning." At that time, Les McCann had influence with Richard Bock and Pacific Jazz Records. Groove went on to record several albums with Les and later with Gerald Wilson's big band. In fact, this was probably the first time a big band featured a Hammond organ soloist.

Gerald sounds modest when reminded of his role in Jazz organ history. "Well, just being able to work with Groove was really a great thrill in my career, I'll tell you that."

Gerald, too, developed a friendship with this most personable man known as Groove. "We kinda kept in touch all the time when he would come to town. We were very good friends, and it's one association that I really enjoyed every moment of." Gerald also brought Groove into other recording sessions using smaller ensembles.
The impact made by Groove on the West Coast was tremendous, and this was made possible in large part by the ear and heart of Les McCann. "When I think of Groove, I can only think of the word joy. It was always laughing--it was always 'let me show you this.' He was totally into the music. Once he hit that thing that turned it on and that love came through, there was no way you could avoid it; it captured you."

Groove was born in Camden, New Jersey, across the river from the Jazz organ capital of the world (Philadelphia), on May 2, 1931. He was primarily a bass player who switched to the Hammond organ without formal training on the piano. His self-taught style was infectious with its strong bass line under each tune.

The great Houston Person, who has played and recorded with just about every Jazz organist, mentions this: "He had the best bass line and kept good time with the bass line. That was one of his real identifying qualities, and he liked to experiment with different sounds on the organ." Houston produced and played on Groove's last recording session for Muse Records.

Another good friend and musical associate was Grover Washington Jr. In a recent phone conversation with Groove's wife, Renee, I learned that Grover was planning on writing new music for Groove and several audio and video projects were in the hopper. Renee said that all this motivated Groove. "He had so many things he wanted to do, and thank God, in his last year and a half especially, he realized how much he was loved and appreciated."