Bill Holman

Born Willis Leonard Holman on May 21, 1927 in Olive, CA, near Santa Ana, Bill Holman took up clarinet in junior high school and tenor saxophone in high school by which time he was leading his own band. After serving in the Navy and studying engineering, he decided in the late '40s that he wanted to write big band music and studied for a while at the Westlake College of Music in Los Angeles with Dave Robertson and Dr. Alfred Sendrey. He also studied composition privately with Russ Garcia and saxaphone with Lloyd Reese.
In 1949 he played with the Ike Carpenter Band, in 1951, he was writing for Charlie Barnet, and in 1952 he began his association with Stan Kenton, for whom he wrote and played for many years. During the '50s, he was also active in the West Coast jazz movement, playing in small bands led by Shorty Rogers and Shelly Manne, and co-leading a quintet with Mel Lewis in 1958.
In the 60s, he widened his writing associations, and eventually contributed pieces to libraries and recordings of bands led by Louie Bellson, Count Basie, Terry Gibbs, Woody Herman, Bob Brookmeyer, Buddy Rich, Gerry Mulligan, Doc Severinsen and others. He has also written for such singers as Natalie Cole (her Grammy winning Unforgettable album, among others,) Tony Bennett, Carmen MacRae, Mel Torme, Woody Herman, Anita O'Day, Sarah Vaughn, June Christy and the Fifth Dimension. His arrangement of Take The 'A Train for Severinsen's Tonight Show Orchestra earned Holman a Best Instrumental Grammy in 1987.
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Big Band Report
Profile
Multiple Reviews
Album Review
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Album Review
- Jazz in Concert by Jack Bowers
- Kenton Presents Bob Cooper, Bill Holman & Frank Rosolino by C. Andrew Hovan
- Kenton Presents Bob Cooper, Bill Holman & Frank Rosolino by C. Andrew Hovan
November 14, 2018
April 01, 2015
March 31, 2015
May 22, 2014
March 10, 2014
NEA Jazz Master Bill Holman To Be Film Subject
March 24, 2014
March 07, 2014
August 02, 2012
February 15, 2011
Other Places: Bill Holman Lauded
May 12, 2010
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