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Major Holley
Major Holley
Born	July 10, 1924; Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	October 25, 1990 (aged 66); Maplewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Instrument	Upright bass
Years active	1940s-1990

Major "Mule" Holley Jr. (July 10, 1924 – October 25, 1990)^[1]^[2]^[3] was an American jazz upright bassist.^[4]^[5]

Early life and education

Holley was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States.^[3] He attended the prestigious Cass Technical High School in Detroit.^[1] Holley played violin and tuba when young.^[3]

Career

He started playing bass while serving in the Navy,^[3] playing in the Ships Company A Band at Camp Robert Smalls, which was led by Leonard Bowden and included Clark Terry, and several other musicians recruited from civilian dance bands.^[6]^[7] In the latter half of the 1940s, he played with Dexter Gordon, Charlie Parker, and Ella Fitzgerald;^[3] in 1950 he and Oscar Peterson recorded duets, and he also played with Peterson and Charlie Smith as a trio.^[3] He was married to Minnie Walton (born Millicent Aitcheson).

In the mid-1950s, he moved to England and worked at the BBC.^[3] Upon his return to America, he toured with Woody Herman in 1958 and with Al Cohn/Zoot Sims between 1959 and 1960.^[3] A prolific studio musician, he played with Duke Ellington in 1964 and with the Kenny Burrell Trio, Coleman Hawkins, Lee Konitz, Roy Eldridge, Michel Legrand, Milt Buckner, Jay McShann and Quincy Jones in the 1960s and 1970s.^[3] From 1967 to 1970, he taught at the Berklee College of Music.^[3]

Holley was known for singing along with his arco (bowed) bass solos, a technique Slam Stewart also used.^[3] Holley and Stewart recorded two albums together.

Death

Holley died of a heart attack in Maplewood, New Jersey, at the age of 66.^[5]

Discography

As leader

Two Big Mice with Slam Stewart (Black and Blue, 1977)
Shut Yo' Mouth! with Slam Stewart (PM, 1987)
Major Step with Joe Van Enkhuizen (Timeless 1992)
Excuse Me Ludwig (Black and Blue, 1997)
Mighty Like a Rose with Rose Murphy (Black & Blue, 1998)

As sideman

With Peter Appleyard

Barbados Heat (Concord Jazz, 1990)
Barbados Cool (Concord Jazz, 1991)

With Kenny Burrell

Midnight Blue (Blue Note, 1963)
Bluesy Burrell (Moodsville, 1963)
Bluesin' Around (Columbia, 1983)

With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis

Light and Lovely (Black and Blue, 1979)
Midnight Slows Vol. 10 (Black and Blue, 1979)

With Coleman Hawkins

Good Old Broadway (Moodsville, 1962)
Today and Now (Impulse!, 1962)
The Jazz Version of No Strings (Moodsville, 1962)
Hawkins! Eldridge! Hodges! Alive! At the Village Gate! (Verve, 1962)
Hawkins! Alive! At the Village Gate (Verve, 1963)
Coleman Hawkins Plays Make Someone Happy from Do Re Mi (Moodsville, 1963)
Desafinado (Impulse!, 1963)
Back in Bean's Bag (Columbia, 1963)

With Jo Jones

Papa Jo and His Friends (Denon, 1978)
Our Man, Papa Jo! (Denon, 1978)

With Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits (Mercury, 1963)
Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini (Mercury, 1964)
Gula Matari (A&M, 1970)
I Heard That!! (A&M, 1976)

With B.B. King

Blues 'N' Jazz (MCA, 1983)

With Roland Kirk

Here Comes the Whistleman (Atlantic, 1967)
A Meeting of the Times (Atlantic, 1972)

With Buddy Tate

The Texas Twister (Master Jazz 1975)
Just Jazz (Uptown, 1984)
Just Friends (Muse, 1992)

With Clark Terry

Tread Ye Lightly (Cameo, 1964)
Having Fun (Delos, 1990)

With Joe Williams

Having the Blues Under European Sky (Denon, 1985)

With others

Totti Bergh, Major Blues (Gemini, 1991)
Milt Buckner, Block Chords Parade (Black & Blue, 1974)
Jaki Byard, Family Man (Muse, 1978)
Johnny Guarnieri, Johnny Guarnieri Originals (1979)
Bob James, Sign of the Times (1981)
Rufus Jones, Five on Eight (Cameo, 1964)
Dave McKenna, Dave McKenna Quartet with Zoot Sims (Chiaroscuro, 1974)
Jay McShann, Some Blues (Chiaroscuro, 1993)
Flip Phillips, The Claw (Chiaroscuro, 1986)
Richie Pratt, Olathe (Artists Recording Collective, 2007)
Hilton Ruiz, Crosscurrents (Stash, 1985)
Shirley Scott, The Soul Is Willing (Prestige, 1963)
Shirley Scott, Drag 'em Out (Prestige, 1963)
Frank Sinatra, L.A. Is My Lady (Qwest, 1984)
Stanley Turrentine, Never Let Me Go (1963)
Dicky Wells, Bones for the King (Felsted, 1958)
Dicky Wells, Trombone Four-in-Hand (Felsted, 1959)
Gerry Wiggins, Wig Is Here (Black & Blue, 1974)
Phil Woods, Directly from the Half Note (Philology, 1966)

References

^ ^a ^b Peter Watrous (27 October 1990). "Mule Holley, Bassist, Dead at 66; A Favorite Among Jazz Musicians". The New York Times. p. 1 28. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
^ "Major Holley". data.bnf.fr (in French). Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 213. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
^ Scott Yanow, Major Holley at Allmusic. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Jazz Bassist Major Holley Dies". Associated Press. October 26, 1990. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
^ "Willie Smith of Lunceford Crew Is among others Starred Here." Chicago Defender 15 May 1943: p. 19.
^ Floyd, Samuel A. “An Oral History: The Great Lakes Experience,” in The Black Experience in Music 11.1: (Spring 1983): pp. 41-61.