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Red Holloway Red Holloway obituary
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In a long performing career, the saxophonist Red Holloway, who has died aged 84, criss-crossed musical genres, content to play in blues bands, bebop combos or 16-piece orchestras. A master of both the alto and tenor saxophones, Holloway was a crowd-pleaser who would whip out a tin whistle from his top pocket to further intrigue and entrance his audiences. Open to all musical possibilities, he adapted to the passing fashions in blues and jazz, turning his hand to playing supporting riffs behind a doo-wop group, touring internationally with the blues-rocker John Mayall or grappling with bebop's intricacies in bandstand "battles" with a fellow saxophonist, Sonny Stitt. "Music to me is music. I'll play any kind of music to make a living," he said in an interview with Eddie Cook.In a long performing career, the saxophonist Red Holloway, who has died aged 84, criss-crossed musical genres, content to play in blues bands, bebop combos or 16-piece orchestras. A master of both the alto and tenor saxophones, Holloway was a crowd-pleaser who would whip out a tin whistle from his top pocket to further intrigue and entrance his audiences. Open to all musical possibilities, he adapted to the passing fashions in blues and jazz, turning his hand to playing supporting riffs behind a doo-wop group, touring internationally with the blues-rocker John Mayall or grappling with bebop's intricacies in bandstand "battles" with a fellow saxophonist, Sonny Stitt. "Music to me is music. I'll play any kind of music to make a living," he said in an interview with Eddie Cook.
Born in Helena, Arkansas, when his mother, a pianist, was barely 13, Holloway grew up living in a single room, sometimes sleeping on top of the piano and without knowing his father (they finally met when Holloway was 20). Having relocated to Chicago, he was prompted to learn the piano by his mother, also tackling the banjo and the harmonica before settling on the tenor saxophone when he was 12.Born in Helena, Arkansas, when his mother, a pianist, was barely 13, Holloway grew up living in a single room, sometimes sleeping on top of the piano and without knowing his father (they finally met when Holloway was 20). Having relocated to Chicago, he was prompted to learn the piano by his mother, also tackling the banjo and the harmonica before settling on the tenor saxophone when he was 12.
Educated at the city's DuSable high school and taught by its redoubtable bandleader Captain Walter Dyett, Holloway emerged as a capable musician, good enough to play his first professional jobs in the bassist Eugene Wright's Dukes of Swing in 1943. Drafted into the US Army in 1946, he served for a year as the bandmaster for the 5th Army Band before returning to Chicago, where he again played with Wright before taking a road job with the blues pianist Roosevelt Sykes, a one-time classmate of his mother. "Roosevelt taught me how to play the blues," he told the writer Val Wilmer in 1977.Educated at the city's DuSable high school and taught by its redoubtable bandleader Captain Walter Dyett, Holloway emerged as a capable musician, good enough to play his first professional jobs in the bassist Eugene Wright's Dukes of Swing in 1943. Drafted into the US Army in 1946, he served for a year as the bandmaster for the 5th Army Band before returning to Chicago, where he again played with Wright before taking a road job with the blues pianist Roosevelt Sykes, a one-time classmate of his mother. "Roosevelt taught me how to play the blues," he told the writer Val Wilmer in 1977.
While undertaking two years of study at the Chicago Conservatory under the GI bill from 1948, Holloway immersed himself in the city's teeming African-American blues culture, performing with Jump Jackson, Memphis Slim and BB King, and touring for an ill-paid year with the New Orleans bassist Nat Towles's territory dance band, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. In what evolved into a highly diverse career, Holloway spent the 1950s leading his own quartet in Chicago clubs (supporting visitors such as Chuck Berry, Billie Holiday or the ex-Ellington saxophonist Ben Webster), also backing blues vocalists and doo-wop groups for locally distributed record labels while fitting in short tours with the bluesmen Jimmy Reed and Pee Wee Crayton, and playing in the drummer Red Saunders's house band at the Regal Theater, Chicago.While undertaking two years of study at the Chicago Conservatory under the GI bill from 1948, Holloway immersed himself in the city's teeming African-American blues culture, performing with Jump Jackson, Memphis Slim and BB King, and touring for an ill-paid year with the New Orleans bassist Nat Towles's territory dance band, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. In what evolved into a highly diverse career, Holloway spent the 1950s leading his own quartet in Chicago clubs (supporting visitors such as Chuck Berry, Billie Holiday or the ex-Ellington saxophonist Ben Webster), also backing blues vocalists and doo-wop groups for locally distributed record labels while fitting in short tours with the bluesmen Jimmy Reed and Pee Wee Crayton, and playing in the drummer Red Saunders's house band at the Regal Theater, Chicago.
Electing to move to New York in 1960, Holloway worked with the R&B singer Lloyd Price's big band for two years before spending a short period with the organist Bill Doggett's popular group. Now established as a versatile player and renowned for his fervent, blues-based tenor-saxophone style, Holloway broke through to wider recognition when he joined the organist Brother Jack McDuff's "hot" combo alongside the young jazz guitarist George Benson, then some years away from his subsequent fame as a vocalist. Holloway stayed with McDuff for three years, covering America and touring abroad, including London.Electing to move to New York in 1960, Holloway worked with the R&B singer Lloyd Price's big band for two years before spending a short period with the organist Bill Doggett's popular group. Now established as a versatile player and renowned for his fervent, blues-based tenor-saxophone style, Holloway broke through to wider recognition when he joined the organist Brother Jack McDuff's "hot" combo alongside the young jazz guitarist George Benson, then some years away from his subsequent fame as a vocalist. Holloway stayed with McDuff for three years, covering America and touring abroad, including London.
A resident of Los Angeles from 1967, Holloway became the bandleader and talent contractor at the Parisian Room club for the next 15 years. He also toured with Mayall's Bluesbreakers and counted this as some of his best-ever paid work. "He pays more money than anyone I have ever worked with," he told Wilmer. In another well-received move, Holloway teamed up with Stitt for five years, the two touring as a saxophone duo, Holloway relishing the challenge of playing alongside one of bebop's founding stars for festival and club audiences in the UK and Europe.A resident of Los Angeles from 1967, Holloway became the bandleader and talent contractor at the Parisian Room club for the next 15 years. He also toured with Mayall's Bluesbreakers and counted this as some of his best-ever paid work. "He pays more money than anyone I have ever worked with," he told Wilmer. In another well-received move, Holloway teamed up with Stitt for five years, the two touring as a saxophone duo, Holloway relishing the challenge of playing alongside one of bebop's founding stars for festival and club audiences in the UK and Europe.
Thereafter, Holloway often worked on his own, taking club tours and collaborating with the Blue Flagships R&B combo in Switzerland as a festival act, recording a dozen or more albums under his own name and any number for other leaders. Having moved to Cambria, in central California, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor and kept on the move, fitting in big band gigs with Frank Capp's LA Juggernaut orchestra.Thereafter, Holloway often worked on his own, taking club tours and collaborating with the Blue Flagships R&B combo in Switzerland as a festival act, recording a dozen or more albums under his own name and any number for other leaders. Having moved to Cambria, in central California, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor and kept on the move, fitting in big band gigs with Frank Capp's LA Juggernaut orchestra.
Eminently cheerful and always approachable, Holloway, whose several marriages all ended in divorce, is survived by three daughters, Lianne, Marsha and Denice, and two sons, Michael and John. Another son predeceased him.Eminently cheerful and always approachable, Holloway, whose several marriages all ended in divorce, is survived by three daughters, Lianne, Marsha and Denice, and two sons, Michael and John. Another son predeceased him.
• James Wesley "Red" Holloway, saxophonist, born 31 May 1927; died 25 February 2012• James Wesley "Red" Holloway, saxophonist, born 31 May 1927; died 25 February 2012