Reviews and Press Clippings
May 2006
January 2006
December 2005

Holly’s Biography
Holly’s Bio

Holly’s Lyrics
Siren Song (Fee Fi Fo Fum)
The Road to Me (The Road to You)



May 2006; In Her Own Write
Article by Jack Walton of the South Bend Tribune (Indiana) (To Top)

Holly Holmes put a twist on her interpretation of a piece by saxophonist Wayne Shorter and another one by guitarist Pat Metheny on her first album, “The Climb.” She wrote lyrics for the two instrumental works.

“They are both melodies that I think are especially gorgeous,” the singer says be telephone from Champaign, IL. “Wayne and Pat are both very lyrical writers, and I had an emotional connection with those songs. That eventually led me to a subject for each of them.”

In Holmes’ versions, Shorter’s “Fee Fi Fo Fum” became “Siren Song,” and Metheny’s “The Road to You” became “The Road to Me.”

In addition ot those two vocalese selections, “The Climb” contains straight-ahead jazz pieces, bossa nova, and scat. The CD also includes one pop-rock song, an arrangement of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” Rather than a straight cover version, however, she wrote new harmonies for it and had the piano player dampen some strings, while the guitarist employs an e-bow, a device that simulates the effect of a violin bow.

Holmes, 29, and her trio – guitar, bass, and drums – perform Saturday at Benton Harbor’s The Livery. Holmes’s performances include many passages of scat-singing, something she says is important to her because scat allows a singer to improvise like an instrumentalist.

“So many singers only sing the melody and the lyrics,” she says. “Even though I love to listen to those singers and I enjoy them a great deal, I often feel more plugged into what the rest of the ensemble is doing. I want to participate on their level.” Holmes has no plans, however to ditch language completely.

“Audiences make an immediate connection to lyrics,” she says. “Most people, frankly, expect that from a vocalist. Sometimes that’s why they choose to hear a vocalist rather than a saxophone player. They want to have that lyrical connection.”

In her current live sets, she performs most of the songs from her album as well as new material. Recently, Holmes has been featuring a new set of lyrics she wrote for Herbie Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance,” a piece she’s been working on for a while. “I played it once a couple of years ago, but I wasn’t convinced I was ready for the tune,” she says. “Now I’m ready to get it back out.”

Currently a resident of Illinois, Holmes attended Western Michigan University. Soon after graduating, she visited Brazil and compares the cultural experience to musical experiences.

“(Learning new styles) is kind of synonymous to learning a foreign language,” she says by telephone from Champaign. “You slowly crack away at it. I spent six months in Brazil learning Portuguese, and I found that the way I learned the language was similar to the way I learn music. You learn a few little phrases at first and eventually they’re coming out of you spontaneously.”

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January 2006; Holly Holmes: Featured Artist; JazzReview.com
Reviewed by jazz vocalist and composer Sara Holtzschue
Read the review below or online by clicking here. (To Top)

Holly Holmes’ recording The Climb is an ambitious and inventive debut, combining standards, modern classics and pop songs. She has a Sheila Jordon like color and an adventuresome choice of songs in the vein of Cassandra Wilson and Nora York.

“Little Yellow Moons” is the highlight of the recording. This is a gem of a tune by songwriter Bill Caskey. The lyrics coupled with the accompanying accordion and percussion give the performance a warm, coffee shop feel. There are moments when her intonation wavers, but they are trumped by the songwriting and arrangement.

In light of the remarkable English version of “O Cantador” by Andy Bey, I’m a bit hesitant when American born singers sing in Portuguese, particularly with so many excellent Brazilian vocalists around. Ms. Holmes has most certainly done her homework, but I found the English verse stronger.

The jazz lyrical tradition is well honored in Ms. Holmes’ versions of Wayne Shorter’s “Fee Fi Fo Fum” and Pat Metheny’s “The Road to You.” The introduction to “Never Will I Marry” has such a wonderfully tongue in cheek delivery; I caught myself laughing out loud. She explores her range of color and expression the most here. The arrangement of the tune is clever and fresh. Ms. Holmes handles the difficult melody deftly.

The two renditions of Stevie Nick’s “Landslide” are interesting. The melancholy and tender atmosphere Ms. Holmes creates is perfect for this song. The studio version, with prepared piano, e-bow and percussion is true to Ms. Nick’s sentiment while stretching out on its own. On the live version, the instrumentation, using acoustic and electric guitars, e-bow and percussion is truly lovely. The reharmonization feels a bit too forced on a simple song, but the thinking behind the arrangement is really creative.

Kudos to Ms. Holmes for scatting. It’s refreshing to hear a vocalist take chances – it certainly made me listen more closely. The solos have moments that are unsure harmonically and could use shape, but she’s on the right track to the improvisatory and arranging neighborhood of musicians like Dominique Eade.

The Climb is a lovely ride through the expanding universe of the jazz vocalist. The arrangements are attention grabbing while staying true to the compositions. Ms. Holmes possesses a voice that can move through a complex melody with confidence. Her band provides a strong background to her work, never obscuring her as the leader. She has a strong command of her vibrato and uses it tastefully. The Climb serves as an excellent introduction to an ambitious vocalist with a wide pallet and a sure future.

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December 2005; Local singer continues to make “the Climb”;
The News-Gazette, Champaign, IL
Reviewed by Melissa Merli (To Top)

While studying for a bachelor's degree in jazz studies at Western Michigan University, Holly Holmes sang for two years with a 16-member jazz vocal ensemble that toured not only the Midwest, but also Belgium and France.

The idea, said Holmes, who now lives in Urbana, was to create a vocal jazz ensemble parallel to a big band. "It really trained your ears because you have to hear these complex harmonies that you might not find in choral singing," she said, "and you have to zero in on a pitch that might be a half step away from what somebody else is singing."

Holmes felt that being part of the ensemble was a valuable experience. But the group did not emphasize solo work, and she admits that as a listener, she prefers solo rather than ensemble jazz vocals.

She already has tested the local jazz waters. She performs regularly at the VIV Wine Bar in Bloomington and has had gigs in Peoria, Springfield, and locally at the Iron Post in Urbana, where the Holly Holmes Quartet will have a CD Release Party from 7 - 10 PM Thursday evening.

Holmes and her quartet - husband Matt Warnock on guitar, JB Fairies on bass, and Craig Russo on drums and percussion - actually celebrate the re-release of Holmes' debut CD, "The Climb," recorded before she and her husband moved here in May.

"The Climb" features a mix of jazz standards, Brazilian bossa nova songs, and modern classics by composers such as Wayne Shorter and Pat Metheny. Some of the tracks, particularly "Siren Song," for which Holly penned lyrics to Shorter's "Fee Fi Fo Fum," are getting airplay on WEFT-FM radio.

"For this song, I kept to the fairytale idea of Shorter's original title and expanded it to tell a story of infatuation," Holmes said. "For Pat Metheny's delicate ballad, "The Road to You," seen here as, "The Road to Me," I let the intrinsic beauty of his melody speak for itself. The first recitation is a wordless improvisation, followed by an elegant piano solo, and closing with my lyrics."

Holmes improvises vocally on "Siren Song" and "I Thought About You." Few singers, even jazz singers, improvise, or, when they do, they do very little. And while there are plenty of jazz instrumentalists in the Champaign-Urbana area, there are few contemporary jazz vocalists other than Rachel Lee, said Paul Wirth, owner of the Iron Post.

"I like her singing," Wirth said of Holmes. "What I like about Holly is the Latin influence on her music. She actually sings some songs in Portuguese and does it well." Holmes sings in Portuguese on the "O Cantador/Like a Lover" on the fifth track of her album.

As a jazz singer, Holmes wants to concentrate on improvisation and study with an instrumentalist to improve her chops in that area. She also hopes to begin studying for a master's degree in jazz at the University of Illinois, where her husband is working on a doctorate of musical arts in jazz performance.

Holmes, who is 28, grew up in Wisconsin. She was exposed to jazz from an early age, as her father often listened to classical music and jazz. Holmes remembers as a young girl hearing Thelonious Monk and thinking his music was different yet fascinating. As she got older and became more interested in jazz, she sang in vocal jazz ensembles in middle school and high school. She was really turned on to the art form by choral director Richard Johnson at Stevens Point Area Senior High.

Among the female jazz vocalist that Holmes admires are Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, and Cassandra Wilson. She also enjoys Bjork, an alt-pop-rock-electronica singer from Iceland. She calls them all influences but doesn't think she sounds like any of them. She is often told she sounds like Norah Jones, but Holmes thinks she sounds more like Brazilian singer Elis Regina, who worked often with the late Antonio Carlos Jobim, also a Brazilian musician.

Holmes herself ended up in Brazil soon after graduating from WMU. After discovering that a jazz quartet from her alma mater was to go on a two-week tour of Brazil, she begged to go along. A professor said yes, and even better, invited her to sing with the group.

Holmes, who had already been studying Portuguese, sang some songs in that language while in Brazil. Listeners appreciated that and after one gig, a Brazilian woman struck up a conversation with Holmes and invited her to visit her and her family in Brazil. Holmes later took up the offer, staying there for six months in the cities of Belo Horizonte and Salvador, taking intensive Portuguese lessons and study guitar with a Brazilian guitarist.

Holmes - who said the extended stay in Brazil kindled a love and appreciation for all music - recently entered the track "Siren Song" from her CD in an online jazz vocal competition at www.jazzconnect.com. About 150 singers from around the world submitted songs, which will be evaluated by professional jazz musicians and journalists as well as visitors to the site.

"The Climb" is available at www.hollyholmes.com and www.cdbaby.com/cd/hollyholmes and during Holmes' gigs and at Borders in Champaign. Besides the Iron Post, Holmes will perform on Saturday at the VIV Wine Bar in Bloomington.

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Biography (To Top)

Holly unites several passions in hopes of inspiring and challenging listeners on an intimate level. Founded in the jazz tradition, one can hear in her live and recorded music Brazilian song and Portuguese language, lyrics inspired by the American folk and acoustic music tradition, and inventive improvisation. Equal parts Carmen McRae and Brazilian-born Elis Regina, Holly Holmes is a jazz musician not to be missed.

Holly grew up in a household filled with a variety. She remembers afternoons assembling puzzles or coloring pictures while albums by Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Kronos Quartet, Tchaikovsky, James Taylor or Steely Dan filled her ears. This early interest in music was fostered through middle and high school music programs in Wisconsin that continued to expose her to the greats in jazz and Brazilian music. Holly’s influences include instrumentalists and vocalists from the jazz tradition like Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter, Jim Hall, John Abercrombie, and Brazilian-born João Gilberto and Rosa Passos. Unlike some jazz musicians, Holly also has a love for the acoustic and rock music traditions. Her interest and involvement in the vibrant acoustic music community in Kalamazoo, Michigan has influenced her lyric writing greatly. Rather than emulating the lyrics of Tin Pan Alley and the jazz standard tradition, Holly looks for inspiration from works by popular artists like Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Björk, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith and many others. She greatly admires other jazz artists following this trend like Dave Douglas, Brad Mehldau and Cassandra Wilson.

Her debut album, the Climb, reflects Holly's varied influences including Brazilian music, refreshing arrangements of jazz standards including a lovely spin of Frank Loesser’s Never Will I Marry as a waltz, and jazz-tinged covers of popular songs. She is particularly fond of penning lyrics to modern instrumental jazz standards as demonstrated by Wayne Shorter's Fee Fi Fo Fum, renamed Siren Song with the addition of the lyric. Holly also stays true to Pat Metheny's delicate ballad the Road to You, seen here as the Road to Me. The first recitation is a beautiful wordless solo, followed by an elegant piano solo, and finally closing with the melody, an unorthodox but satisfying choice, with her original lyric. Perhaps most remarkably, Holly puts the jazz back in jazz singer with her imaginative improvisation, executed tastefully on several tracks including Siren Song and I Thought About You. As well as being the bandleader and arranger for the album, Holly used her experience from three years of audio engineering coursework and recording studio employment to serve as her album’s co-engineer, co-mixer, and producer.

Holly earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2000. In the fragile fall of 2001, Holmes was awarded an internship with the jazz programming department at Washington DC's prestigious Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. There she assisted with the Dr. Billy Taylor radio series as well as working as an audio engineer for other live performances featuring Nnenna Freelon, Kurt Elling, Freddy Cole, and many others.

In 2003, Holly traveled to Brazil as guest vocalist of a student and alumni jazz quintet representing Western Michigan University. The success of the tour inspired her to plan a research trip in order to study Portuguese language and bossa nova guitar. In June 2004, Holly was awarded an Emerging Artist Grant by the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo to help make this happen. Holly spent six months living with Brazilian families in Salvador and Belo Horizonte, Brazil and there became fluent in Portuguese and studied bossa nova guitar with Celso Moreira. Holly returned to Brazil in 2008 to record as a guest vocalist with composer Robson Santos on is album Límbico Trem produced by singer-guitarist Filó Machado.

Since returning to the Midwest, Holly has played throughout the Midwest and in Ontario, Canada. She was the first vocalist to earn a degree in Jazz Performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she received her Master’s degree in 2008. Holly remains at the U of I to complete her PhD in Musicology. Her dissertation will focus on the Clube da Esquina movement from Belo Horizonte, Brazil that included Milton Nascimento, Toninho Horta and Beto Guedes among other luminaries of MPB [música popular brasileira, or Brazilian popular music].

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Siren Song (Fee Fi Fo Fum) (To Top)
Lyrics by Holly Holmes
Music by Wayne Shorter
Listen to it here at the Climb

High upon a mountainside is she, elegant,
Far below, Mr. Hopeful strains to see,
Then he climbs up higher and higher,
His prize to win,
Ev’ry footstep could be his last step,
Boy, love’s the peril you’re in.
Innocent eyes, you must realize her Siren Song, prettily
Singing while you choke on love.

High upon the mountainside is he, ignorant,
So naïve, this kitten has climbed his tree,
She’s no angel, don’t let her change you,
I’ve seen her do it before,
Narcissistic, but climbing solo’s no picnic,
You see love, but I see war,
Innocent eyes, you must realize her Siren Song, prettily
Singing while you choke on love.


©2000 Holly Holmes Music. Use for recording or live performance purposes must be obtained from the artist. Duplication of this lyrics online or in print is strictly prohibited without prior consent by the artist.

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The Road to Me (The Road to You) (To Top)
Lyrics by Holly Holmes
Music by Pat Metheny
Listen to it here at the Climb

The Road to You
Is paved with stars and stones,
A path stretching miles from home
And ever climbing, ever on,
The darkest dusk that grows
I’ll meet with joy in my heart,
For you, I live
Just to find the beauty within each day,
Knowing life is sweet
Whether bright or grey,
Living for the road…

To you.
And when the morning shares it’s light,
I smile, each day and hope,
You’ve found the Road to Me.


©2000 Holly Holmes Music. Use for recording or live performance purposes must be obtained from the artist. Duplication of this lyrics online or in print is strictly prohibited without prior consent by the artist.

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