Holly’s earliest musical memories are of her parents’ record collection. She spent many afternoons assembling puzzles and quietly humming along to the music of Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Blood, Sweat and Tears, James Taylor and Steely Dan. Strong middle and high school music programs in Wisconsin exposed her to the greats in jazz as well as introducing her to what would become a lifelong fascination: Brazilian music.
Holly earned the Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Western Michigan University in 2000, and in 2008 she was the first vocalist to earn a degree in Jazz Performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she completed her Masters. Her debut album the Climb was released in 2001 including Brazilian songs, jazz standards, and modern instrumental jazz compositions for which Holly penned lyrics to Wayne Shorter’s “Fee Fi Fo Fum” and Pat Metheny’s delicate ballad “The Road to You.” In graduate school, Holly was the featured vocalist for two University of Illinois CD releases in 2008, including the U of I Concert Jazz Band’s As of Yet and the U of I Latin Jazz Ensemble’s The Art of the Dance.
Also in 2008, Holly traveled to Brazil to appear as a guest vocalist of composer Robson Santos on his album Límbico Trem produced by singer-guitarist-composer Filó Machado. In 2010, Holly released her second album entitled Bossa Nuevo acting as the vocalist in the band of the same name. The group’s name is a play on words reflecting their two sources of repertoire–Brazilian bossa nova and Argentinean tango nuevo. Holly has performed abroad in Canada, Belgium, France, and Brazil as well as for the International Association of Jazz Education conference in 1997 (Chicago) and 2008 (Toronto).
Press Kit
Holly Holmes Bio
Holly Close-Up Blue Dress
Holly Blue Dress Lamp
Holly Black Dress
Holly At the Park
Holly Smiling
"The Climb" Image BW
"The Climb" CD Cover
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