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Sonny Rollins Passes Away at 95
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
A drummer’s drummer, Rodney Holmes gigged with everyone from Joe Zawinul and Carlos Santana to Steve Kimock and the Brecker Brothers.
(Photo: Courtesy Meinl)Drummer Rodney Holmes, a powerful presence behind the kit who emerged as an in-demand player on the New York scene during the 1990s, died of cancer on July 11. He was just six weeks years away from his 60th birthday.
The Bronx-born Holmes studied music in grade school while growing up in nearby Westchester. It was there that he soaked up the Ohio Players, Funkadelic and Earth Wind & Fire records his older brother turned him on to, along with the Max Roach and Art Blakey records from his father’s collection. At age 15, he began studying the rudiments of drumming after his family moved to Hazelhurst, Georgia.
At age 17, he moved back to New York and began studying with percussionist Frankie Malabe at the Drummers Collective. He later took a single lesson with drummer Horacee Arnold, which left a big impression on the young drummer. He began hanging at Barry Harris’ Jazz Cultural Theater, where he met keyboardist Esther Blue, his first employer. Keyboardist Clyde Criner, a professor at Long Island University, then hired Holmes to play on his 1988 recording, Behind The Sun (Novus), the young drummer’s first recording session.
In 1989, Holmes played on Criner’s followup album on Novus, The Color Of Dark, as well as bassist Victor Bailey’s Bottom’s Up (1989, Atlantic). He subsequently played on guitarist Leni Stern’s Ten Songs (1991, Lipstick Records) and on guitarist Jean-Paul Bourelly’s Trippin’ (1992, Enemy), which he regarded as an eye-opening experience: “It was a trio and the music was a weird mix of blues, jazz, rock and funk, which is something I had never really heard before. And Jean-Paul sang, too. It was very Hendrix-inspired and a lot of people were excited about it. The first bassist was Jared Nickerson; later on it was Reggie Washington. It was a great band. We did a lot of gigs in Europe but after a while Jean-Paul started getting more interested in dance music and there was less and less room for the musicians. It started to move away from something I thought was special and toward something that was more accessible. So we both agreed that it was time for me to go on and do some other things. But I owe a lot to Jean-Paul. He gave me a venue in which to try different things.”
By 1991, Holmes joined Joe Zawinul’s band, the Zawinul Syndicate, and remained for two years. “My level of concentration was raised in that band,” he recalled in a 1993 interview conducted by this writer for Modern Drummer magazine. “Joe is very demanding. He wants his band to be like a basketball team where he would be able to pass the ball to anyone at any moment and feel comfortable and confident. And it really was like that. Anything could happen at any moment on stage with Joe. He works with hand signals a lot, so l really had to concentrate and keep my eyes open, being very aware of what he was doing, what Gerald [bassist Gerald Veasley] was doing, and what percussionist Bobby Thomas was doing. In terms of groove, Joe always wanted it to be strong and different. So I was able to incorporate some new concepts within the groove, rather than just taking it out. I incorporated the cowbell a lot more, and I worked on independence a lot — while at the same time supplying that hard groove that Joe demanded.”
Holmes left the Syndicate in 1993 to join Santana. It was also around this time that he joined forces with guitarist Mitch Stein and bassist Kip Reed in the jazz-rock power trio The Hemanators, which gigged around New York at venues like the 55 Bar and the Izzy Bar. In 1994, Holmes began playing with Randy Brecker, leading to his appearance later that year on The Brecker Brothers’ Grammy-winning album Out Of The Loop. Then, in 1995, he began touring with Wayne Shorter’s band that included keyboardist Jim Beard, guitarist David Gilmore and bassist Alphonso Johnson. Their appearance at the 1996 Montreal Jazz Festival was documented and later released on DVD in 2009 by Eagle Eye Media.
There followed performances and recordings with the Mike Mainieri-led fusion band Steps Ahead, guitarists Larry and Julian Coryell and Polish violinist Michal Urbaniak. Then in November of 2000, Holmes became a regular member of the Steve Kimock Band, led by the psychedelic Bay Area guitarist and jamband icon. They played frequently together through 2005, appearing on the 2004 DVD Live At The Gothic Theatre, and on Kimock’s 2005 album Eudemonic. He has also logged some time with the likes of Maceo Parker, Al Jarreau, Steve Lukather, Paul Gilbert, Rob Thomas and the Rolling Stones and most recently toured Japan with Randy Brecker in the fall of 2025.
“Rodney was a rare talent, possessing the exceptional ability to perform at the highest level across virtually every genre of music,” Brecker posted on Facebook. “He was a true rock star in every sense of the word — both on and off the stage. Rodney inspired people around the world through his extraordinary musicianship, phenomenal drumming, brilliance, intelligence, kindness, infectious sense of humor and genuine love for humanity. He lived with passion, generosity and authenticity, bringing laughter and inspiration to those fortunate to know him and experience his music. His legacy extends far beyond the notes he played; it lives in the countless lives he touched.” DB
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