Richard "Rick" Arthur Holmes, Jr. (April 21, 1936 – August 21, 2015), was an American jazz radio disc jockey and Grammy-nominated spoken word recording artist. Holmes was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and after serving in the United States Navy, moved to Los Angeles. He was employed at the US Postal Service while attending the Don Martin School of Broadcasting, and after graduation he began his professional radio career at

KBCA KBCA (channel 41) is a television station in Alexandria, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with the digital multicast network Heroes & Icons. The station is owned by Delta Media Corporation, and broadcasts from a transmitter in Oakdale, Loui ...

Radio 105.1 FM, in Los Angeles, where he worked from 1967 until 1970. Holmes' show "Rick's Affair" featured " Poinciana", in an arrangement by

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones; July 2, 1930 – April 16, 2023) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a NEA Jazz Ma ...

, as its theme song. The show became "Rick's Family Affair" in 1975. Holmes was later hired by KJLH 103.2 FM, owned by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

, where he hosted evening jazz show "Holmes in your Home." As a recording artist, Holmes is known for three albums that combined spiritual jazz and his spoken word recitations: '' Soul Zodiac'' (Capitol, 1972), '' Soul of the Bible'' (Capitol, 1972) and '' Love, Sex and the Zodiac'' (Fantasy, 1974). The first two albums actually feature the music of the

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) 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. It ...

Sextet, but all three are credited as "Presented by

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the 1966 soul ...

." All three albums are co-produced by David Axelrod. Holmes received a nomination at the 15th Grammy Awards for "Best Spoken Word Recording" for ''Soul Zodiac''. Of ''Love, Sex and the Zodiac'',

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote, "The real artist on this album is not so much annonballAdderley as Rick Holmes (jazz DJ on Los Angeles radio station KBCA), who wrote and narrated the voice-overs to which Adderley and other musicians supplied a musical backdrop. In common with numerous other records around the Age of Aquarius, it has one track for each astrological sign. In smooth hip period DJ patter, Holmes declaims homilies as to how those born under each sign integrate both sex and love as part of their being. A cast of musicians, including Cannonball, his brother Nat Adderley on cornet and

George Duke George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as ...

on electric piano, backs Holmes' unctuous musings with sketchy fusion instrumentals, co-produced by David Axelrod and Cannonball." In 1981, Holmes collaborated with

Roy Ayers Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure ...

on the 12" single "Remember to Remember" (Gold Mink Records).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Rick American spoken word artists American DJs Jazz radio presenters 1936 births 2015 deaths