Frank Holder (musician)

Frank Holder (2 April 1925 – 29 October 2017) was a Guyanese jazz singer and percussionist.

He was a member of bands led by Jiver Hutchinson, Johnny Dankworth and Joe Harriott.

Frank Holder was born in 1925 in Georgetown, Guyana, and served in the Royal Air Force.

He sang in forces groups at RAF Cranwell, including a band led by Geoff Head.

Holder played with bands led by Andre Messeder and John Carioca in the late 1940s, appearing with the latter at Churchill's Club in London.

He also performed at the Feldman Swing Club (100 Club) in London, owned by the Feldman brothers.

Holder recalled, "At Feldman's, a black man would be accepted when you couldn't appear at clubs like the Mayfair or Embassy. Black guys like Coleridge Goode and Ray Ellington were welcome, and all that mattered to Robert and Monty Feldman was that you were a musician".

At the time, he occasionally worked with Victor Feldman.

In his early years, Holder recorded for Parlophone and Decca Records.

Holder is also regarded as one of the leading black UK jazz musicians to emerge from the mid-1940s swing dance band movement, having got his big break with a band led by Jiver Hutchinson after World War II.

In the late 1940s, Holder worked with trumpeter Kenny Baker.

Highlights from Holder's Dankworth days include an appearance at the Royal Albert Hall on the same bill as Nat King Cole.

He was perhaps best known for his work in the early 1950s with the Dankworth Seven led by John Dankworth, which often topped the Melody Maker Jazz charts.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Holder toured, recorded, and performed with Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes, Don Rendell, Peter King, Dickie Hawdon, Eddie Harvey, Jack Fallon, Harry Beckett, Bill Le Sage, Shake Keane, Ronnie Ross, Coleridge Goode, Hank Shaw, Tony Kinsey, and songwriter Duncan Lamont.

He was active in the post-war Latin music scene, including working with the Deniz Brothers.

Holder was represented during the 1950s by theatre impresario Bernard Delfont and Harold Davison.

In the middle of the decade, he was approached by British jazz record producer Denis Preston to record calypso music.

Holder's records at the ime were issued by Pye.

In the late 1950s, Kenny Graham and His Orchestra recorded with Holder for Decca.

Other recordings from this period include sessions for Cab Kaye and a film soundtrack single release called "Nor the Moon by Night" with conductor and arranger Ron Goodwin for Parlophone.

Goodwin was working closely with producer George Martin, who was also involved with Parlophone.

In 1959, Holder contributed percussion to the Joe Harriott album Southern Horizons (1960).

Holder worked with drummer Phil Seamen.

In the mid-1960s, Holder recorded with Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke.

Holder branched out into variety and cabaret performances, appearing in many countries and at London venues such as the London Palladium, Lyceum, and Paramount.

He often gave his time to charity fund raising events.

Later bills were shared with Bill Haley and his Comets, Guy Mitchell, and Johnnie Ray.

In 1963, Holder appeared at the National Jazz and Blues Festival at Richmond.

In 1964, he was compère for the BBC One series Carnival, working with Ginger Johnson, Carmen Munroe, and Geoff Love with his Orchestra.

That year, he also performed for Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland for their wedding party at the Tiberio Restaurant Mayfair.

In 1966, Holder appeared with the BBC Radio Orchestra and in the following year recorded with John Dankworth, featuring the actress singer Nadia Cattouse.

In 1972, Holder was one of the winners of the Castlebar Song Contest for the folk ballad "Song for Jenny", composed by Sheila Roberts.

In 1974, Holder was invited to sing with the Scottish Symphony Orchestra at a Royal Albert Hall Promenade Concert with soprano Margaret Gale and the BBC Chorus.

In 1990 he appeared with the BBC Big Band at Fairfield Halls, Croydon.

The following year, he played congas and bongos on an album by Barbara Thompson's band Paraphernalia entitled Breathless.

In 1996, he performed as a guest on guitarist Eduardo Niebla's album I Can Fly Now, playing both congas and bongos.

He was a member of the Latin jazz band Paz and was featured on the band's album Samba Samba (1997) with drummer Chris Dagley.

In 2003, he was a guest on the album Cleo Laine and Laurie Holloway, Loesser Genius, with John Dankworth.

Performances followed with Steve Waterman's album Our Delight: A Jazz Odyssey in 2006.

Holder also worked with Mornington Lockett and Dave O'Higgins.