Redd Holt

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Redd Holt
Background information
Birth nameIsaac Holt
Born(1932-05-16)May 16, 1932
Rosedale, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedMay 23, 2023(2023-05-23) (aged 91)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
GenresJazz, soul
InstrumentsDrums
Years active1956–2020
Spouse(s)
Marylean Green
​
(m. 1954)​

Isaac "Redd" Holt (May 16, 1932 – May 23, 2023) was an American jazz and soul music drummer. He was the drummer on the album The In Crowd which earned the Ramsey Lewis Trio critical praise and the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance.

Early life and education[edit]

Holt was born in Rosedale, Mississippi, on May 16, 1932, and raised in Chicago.[1][2] He first began playing drums as a student at Crane High School, where he played in an ensemble with future collaborators Ramsey Lewis and Eldee Young.[3] Holt studied music at the Chicago Musical College and radio and television at Kennedy–King College.[4]

Career[edit]

Holt enlisted in the United States Army in 1954[2] and was stationed in Germany, where he played with a military band, and upon his return worked with Lewis, alongside Young, from 1956 to 1966, in addition to recording with Earl Bostic and James Moody near the end of the 1950s.

In 1966, Young and Holt split with Lewis and formed their own group, Young-Holt Unlimited, which went on to achieve commercial success as an instrumental soul band.[2] Their band's biggest hit was released in November 1968 as "Soulful Strut" credited to Young-Holt Unlimited and it became a gold record No. 3 hit in the United States and went to No. 1 in Canada.[5] After the group's dissolution in 1974 Holt continued on as Redd Holt Unlimited, playing under this name into the 1990s, and worked in jazz education in Illinois. He founded the Gumption Artist Workshop, which was active from 1980 to 1985, and played internationally, including at the 1988 Montreux Jazz Festival and in Singapore in the late-1980s and early-1990s.[6] For 20 years, Holt also played with a trio at the East Bank Club in Chicago. The studio sessions produced a vinyl LP named, It's A Take! on the Treehouse Record label with eight full-length jazz standards. He continued to perform regularly until the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

Personal life and death[edit]

In 1954, Holt married Marylean Green, and they had three sons.[2] He died from lung cancer at a hospital in Chicago on May 23, 2023, at the age of 91.[2][7]

Discography[edit]

As leader[edit]

  • Look Out!! Look Out!! (Argo, 1963)
  • Isaac, Isaac, Isaac (Paula, 1974)
  • The Other Side of the Moon (Paula, 1975)

With Eldee Young

  • Just for Kicks (Argo, 1962)
  • Wack Wack (Brunswick, 1966)
  • The Beat Goes On (Brunswick, 1967)
  • Feature Spot (Cadet, 1967)
  • Soulful Strut (Brunswick, 1968)
  • Funky But! (Brunswick, 1968)
  • Mellow Dreamin (Cotillion, 1970)
  • Born Again (Cotillion, 1971)
  • Oh Girl (Atlantic, 1973)
  • Plays Super Fly (Paula, 1973)
  • Another Evening at Somerset's Bar (Westin Plaza, 1990)
  • Blues for the Saxophone Club (Golden String, 1996)
  • Live at the Bohemian Caverns 1968 (Brunswick, 1998)

As sideman[edit]

With Ramsey Lewis

With others

References[edit]

Footnotes
  1. ^ Decker, Todd (June 24, 2011). Music Makes Me: Fred Astaire and Jazz. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-95006-1.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Traub, Alex (June 2, 2023). "Redd Holt, Drummer on '60s Instrumental Pop Hits, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  3. ^ Pruter, Robert (1992). Chicago Soul. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06259-9.
  4. ^ "Isaac "Redd" Holt's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  5. ^ Larkin, Colin (May 27, 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  6. ^ Yanow, Scott (2005). Jazz: A Regional Exploration. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-32871-8.
  7. ^ Isaac “Redd” Holt, percussionist and jazz fusion pioneer, dies at 91
General references

External links[edit]

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