Richard "Groove" Holmes

Richard "Groove" Holmes commanded respect throughout soul-jazz circles as a committed, hard-swinging disciple of Jimmy Smith who could glide without strain from the rawest blues statements to the most tender ballads. His direct, open-hearted, and immediately likable style on the organ made him especially beloved by Black audiences and earned him steady admiration on the Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey circuit well before he joined Pacific Jazz in the early 1960s. Wider notice followed once he began recording alongside established masters such as Ben Webster and Gene Ammons.

The 1965 hit single “Misty” remained his signature recording, yet Holmes still found time for spirited organ confrontations with Jimmy McGriff in the early 1970s before shifting toward electric keyboards and fusion-tinged pieces a few years afterward. By the mid- to late 1980s he had returned the organ to center stage, issuing sessions for Muse after earlier periods with Prestige Records and Groove Merchant. He was still producing strong soul-jazz dates for Muse, frequently in the company of tenor titan Houston Person, when prostate cancer and a fatal heart attack ended his life at age 60 in 1991. Holmes performed to the very last, appearing in a wheelchair for his final engagements.