The
Christian Jacob Web would not be complete without
a Bill Holman Page! Christian has been playing in
The Bill Holman band for two years and hates it
if he gets a paying gig that makes him miss one
of Bill's rehearsals. Apparently Bill has been having
these rehearsals since the mid 70s.
Some musicians call it the "Torture Chamber"
but none the less they still show up, some driving
more than an hour, some without sleep, and all knowing
that it's an unpaid rehearsal and that the coffee
machine (as always) will be out of order. All these
creative minds eagerly cram themselves into the
rehearsal room because they know how rare it is,
and how enriching each session will be. An amusing
side of this is watching these musicians try to
find a sub. Not only because the music is so hard,
on so many levels, but also because by respect for
Bill and the other players, they don't want to send
someone who can't do the job.
"The
music is so challenging it pushes my buttons and
blows me away every time I play one of Bill's charts"
-Christian Jacob
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The
photos on this website are the property of Wilder
F. Jacob
please do not copy them onto your websites
Bill
Holman's Biography
Bill Holman's dense charts are characterized by
daring harmonies and hard-driving swing. Born in
Olive, Calif., on May 27, 1927, Holman played tenor
saxophone in Charlie Barnet's band in '50 while
still a student at Westlake College. After graduation,
he joined the staff of Stan Kenton's arrangers,
(1952-'56), adding "Invention For Guitar And
Trumpet" to the band's book. This was followed
by a stint with Shorty Rogers. He also co-led a
hard-bop quintet with Mel Lewis. A fine saxophonist,
he quit playing to concentrate on writing for his
own studio bands that recorded for Capitol, Coral
and Hi Fi, as well as writing charts for Woody Herman
("Concerto For Herd"), Count Basie, Buddy
Rich, Maynard Ferguson and Gerry Mulligan's Concert
Jazz Band; for singers Peggy Lee and Sarah Vaughan,
and for television.
Holman has led a rehearsal band in Los Angeles since
the mid '70s that records for JVC, and produced
the Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne. He also wrote
the charts for Natalie Cole's Unforgettable.
