Major "Mule" Holley Jr. (July 10, 1924 – October 25, 1990) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

ist.

Early life and education

Holley was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, United States. He attended the prestigious

Cass Technical High School Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a four-year Public magnet high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. from the University Cultural Center Association, retrieved June 9, 1001 It was established in 19 ...

in Detroit. Holley played violin and tuba when young.

Career

He started playing bass while serving in the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, playing in the Ships Company A Band at Camp Robert Smalls, which was led by Leonard Bowden and included Clark Terry, and several other musicians recruited from civilian dance bands.Floyd, Samuel A. “An Oral History: The Great Lakes Experience,” in ''The Black Experience in Music'' 11.1: (Spring 1983): pp. 41-61. In the latter half of the 1940s, he played with

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

, and

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

; in 1950 he and

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

recorded duets, and he also played with Peterson and Charlie Smith as a trio. He was married to Minnie Walton (born Millicent Aitcheson). In the mid-1950s, he moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and worked at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Upon his return to America, he toured with

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roo ...

in 1958 and with

Al Cohn Al Cohn (November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988) was an American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer. He came to prominence in the band of clarinetist Woody Herman and was known for his longtime musical partnership with fellow saxophonist ...

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

between 1959 and 1960. A prolific studio musician, he played with

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

in 1964 and with the

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige Records, Prestige, Blue Note, Verve Records, Verve, CTI Records, CTI, Muse Records, Muse, and Concord Records, Conco ...

Trio,

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first ...

Lee Konitz Leon "Lee" Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's ass ...

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist, and singer. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to ma ...

, Milt Buckner,

Jay McShann James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Walter Brown, and B ...

and

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1967 to 1970, he taught at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. Holley was known for singing along with his arco (bowed) bass solos, a technique Slam Stewart also used. Holley and Stewart recorded two albums together.

Death

Holley died of a heart attack in

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

, at the age of 66.

Discography

As leader

* ''Two Big Mice'' with Slam Stewart (Black and Blue, 1977) * '' Shut Yo' Mouth!'' with Slam Stewart (PM, 1987) * ''Major Step'' with Joe Van Enkhuizen (Timeless 1992) * ''Excuse Me Ludwig'' (Black and Blue, 1997) * ''Mighty Like a Rose'' with Rose Murphy (Black & Blue, 1998)

As sideman

With Peter Appleyard * ''Barbados Heat'' (Concord Jazz, 1990) * ''Barbados Cool'' (Concord Jazz, 1991) With

* ''

Midnight Blue Midnight blue is a dark shade of blue named for its resemblance to the apparently blue color of a moonlit night sky around a full moon. Midnight blue is identifiably blue to the eye in sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromag ...

'' (Blue Note, 1963) * ''

Bluesy Burrell ''Bluesy Burrell'' (also released as ''Out of This World'') is an album by guitarist Kenny Burrell with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins recorded in 1962 and originally released on the Moodsville label. Reception AllMusic awarded the album 3 stars ...

'' (Moodsville, 1963) * '' Bluesin' Around'' (Columbia, 1983) With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis * ''Light and Lovely'' (Black and Blue, 1979) * ''Midnight Slows Vol. 10'' (Black and Blue, 1979) With

* '' Good Old Broadway'' (Moodsville, 1962) * ''

Today and Now ''Today and Now'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins featuring performances recorded in 1962 for the Impulse! label.

'' (Impulse!, 1962) * ''

The Jazz Version of No Strings ''The Jazz Version of No Strings'' (complete title ''The Coleman Hawkins Quartet Play The Jazz Version of No Strings'') is an album by saxophonist Coleman Hawkins featuring tracks from the musical drama ''No Strings'' written by Richard Rodgers, ...

'' (Moodsville, 1962) * '' Hawkins! Eldridge! Hodges! Alive! At the Village Gate!'' (Verve, 1962) * '' Hawkins! Alive! At the Village Gate'' (Verve, 1963) * '' Coleman Hawkins Plays Make Someone Happy from Do Re Mi'' (Moodsville, 1963) * ''

Desafinado "Desafinado" (a Portuguese word, usually rendered into English as "Out of Tune", or as "Off Key") is a 1959 bossa nova song and jazz standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics (in Portuguese) by Newton Mendonça. Background "Des ...

'' (Impulse!, 1963) * '' Back in Bean's Bag'' (Columbia, 1963) With

Jo Jones Jonathan David Samuel Jones (October 7, 1911 – September 3, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. A band leader and pioneer in jazz percussion, Jones anchored the Count Basie Orchestra rhythm section from 1934 to 1948. He was sometimes k ...

* ''Papa Jo and His Friends'' (Denon, 1978) * '' Our Man, Papa Jo!'' (Denon, 1978) With

* '' Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits'' (Mercury, 1963) * ''

Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini ''Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini'' is an album by Quincy Jones that contains music composed by Henry Mancini. Track listing All music composed by Henry Mancini, lyricists indicated # "Baby Elephant Walk" – 2:49 # "Charade ( ...

'' (Mercury, 1964) * '' Gula Matari'' (A&M, 1970) * '' I Heard That!!'' (A&M, 1976) With

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

* '' Blues 'N' Jazz'' (MCA, 1983) With

Roland Kirk Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

* ''

Here Comes the Whistleman ''Here Comes the Whistleman'' is a live album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Roland Kirk recorded in March 1965 at Atlantic Studios in New York, and released in February 1967. It was his first release on the Atlantic Records, ...

'' (Atlantic, 1967) * '' A Meeting of the Times'' (Atlantic, 1972) With

Buddy Tate George Holmes "Buddy" Tate (February 22, 1913 – February 10, 2001) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Tate was born in Sherman, Texas, United States, and first played the alto saxophone. According to the website All Ab ...

* ''The Texas Twister'' (Master Jazz 1975) * ''Just Jazz'' (Uptown, 1984) * '' Just Friends'' (Muse, 1992) With

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948� ...

* ''Tread Ye Lightly'' (Cameo, 1964) * ''Having Fun'' (Delos, 1990) With Joe Williams * ''Having the Blues Under European Sky'' (Denon, 1985) With others * Totti Bergh, ''Major Blues'' (Gemini, 1991) * Milt Buckner, ''Block Chords Parade'' (Black & Blue, 1974) * Jaki Byard, '' Family Man'' (Muse, 1978) * Johnny Guarnieri, ''Johnny Guarnieri Originals'' (1979) * Bob James, ''Sign of the Times'' (1981) * Rufus Jones, '' Five on Eight'' (Cameo, 1964) * Dave McKenna, ''Dave McKenna Quartet with Zoot Sims'' (

Chiaroscuro In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to ach ...

, 1974) *

, '' Some Blues'' (

, 1993) * Flip Phillips, ''The Claw'' (

, 1986) * Richie Pratt, Olathe ( Artists Recording Collective, 2007) * Hilton Ruiz, ''Crosscurrents'' (Stash, 1985) *

Shirley Scott Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues, and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ". Life and career Scott was born in P ...

, '' The Soul Is Willing'' (Prestige, 1963) * Shirley Scott, '' Drag 'em Out'' (Prestige, 1963) *

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

, '' L.A. Is My Lady'' (Qwest, 1984) *

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist and record producer. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note Reco ...

, '' Never Let Me Go'' (Blue Note, 1963) *

Dicky Wells William Wells (June 10, 1907 or 1909 – November 12, 1985), known professionally as Dicky Wells (sometimes Dickie Wells), was an American jazz trombonist. Early life Wells was born in Centerville, Tennessee. Early in his life, he lived in Cent ...

, '' Bones for the King'' (Felsted, 1958) * Dicky Wells, ''

Trombone Four-in-Hand ''Trombone Four-in-Hand'' is an album by trombonist Dicky Wells which was recorded in 1959 and released on the Felsted Records, Felsted label.Gerry Wiggins, ''Wig Is Here'' (Black & Blue, 1974) *

Phil Woods Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer. Biography Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began t ...

, ''Directly from the Half Note'' (Philology, 1966)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holley, Major 1924 births 1991 deaths American jazz double-bassists American male double-bassists Cass Technical High School alumni Jazz musicians from Michigan People from Maplewood, New Jersey Duke Ellington Orchestra members 20th-century American double-bassists American male jazz musicians Black & Blue Records artists 20th-century American male musicians United States Navy personnel of World War II Musicians from Essex County, New Jersey