Richard "Groove" Holmes born 2 May 1931

Richard Arnold "Groove" Holmes (May 2, 1931 – June 29, 1991) was an American jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of "Misty". 

Revered in soul-jazz circles, Richard "Groove" could effortlessly move from the grittiest of blues to the most sentimental of ballads. A very accessible, straightforward, and warm player, Holmes was especially popular with Black listeners and was well respected on the Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey circuit by the time he signed with Pacific Jazz in the early '60s. Literally a heavyweight at approximately 300 pounds and physically rotund in stature, he gained immediate respect with an inimitable style of his own. 

Born in Camden, New Jersey, he was primarily a bass player who switched to the Hammond organ without formal training on the piano. He worked in small clubs in the Pittsburgh and New Jersey area until he was discovered by Les McCann in 1960. He started receiving national attention by recording with such greats as Ben Webster and Gene Ammons. His sound was immediately recognizable in the upper register, but even more so because of his virtuosity in creating, undoubtedly, the most rapid, punctuating, and pulsating bass lines of all the jazz organists. 

                             

Best known for his hit 1965 version of "Misty," Holmes engaged in some inspired organ battles with Jimmy McGriff in the early '70s. Like so many other organists in the mid-1970s, Holmes experimented a bit with electric keyboards. But he soon realized that his musical personality was really to be found on the organ so he switched back, staying active as one of the top organists on the soul-jazz scene when he recorded for Muse (he also had stints throughout his career with Prestige Records and Groove Merchant). 

Holmes was still delivering high-quality soul-jazz for Muse (often featuring tenor titan Houston Person) when a heart attack claimed his life at the age of 60 on June 29, 1991in St. Louis, Missouri, after a long struggle with prostate cancer. One of his last gigs was at the 1991 Chicago Blues Festival with his long-time friend, singer Jimmy Witherspoon. It was a year after his death, that the Beastie Boys honoured Holmes by adding an organ-based instrumental track, Groove Holmes to their album Check Your Head. 

Another fellow organist who knew him well was Johnny "Hammond" Smith. He recalls this wonderful gesture: "I found out where Groove Holmes was, and I talked to him for the last nine or ten months of his life. I used to call him once or twice every a month or so, and I always reminded him how great an organ player he was because I feel Groove got cheated; he was really a tremendous organist. He had foot under control, had tempos under control, had keys under control, and agility on the keyboard. He was just fantastic and some people really didn't hear where he was coming from and didn't give him the just respect that he deserved, so in the last days of his life, I made sure he got it every time I talked to him." 

The great Jackie Davis shared a mutual admiration with Groove Holmes. His words say it all. "When you're speaking of Groove, you are speaking of a master--a beautiful dude, a fine gentleman, and a classic contributor to the world of music and especially the world of the Jazz organ. That's Groove Holmes, man!" 

(Edited from AllMusic, Wikipedia, dvrbs.com & highresaudio)

Here’s a great clip from YouTube. There’s 1:10 of narrative from start but then you see a burnin’' version of "Billie's Bounce" live in concert. Richard "Groove" Holmes: organ, Willis "Gator" Jackson: tenor sax, Steve Giordano: guitar, Roger Humphries: drums. Spain, 1980.