Bert Olav Holmquist (15 November 1936 – 26 March 2020) was a Swedish trombonist who was active in the European music scene since the 1960s. Holmquist was born in Skellefteå. A self-taught musician, he began his career in a Swedish armed forces band (I20). He began playing tuba, then switched to valve trombone, and then to slide trombone. As a freelance musician, he worked for the

Swedish Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is ...

big band in 1963 but continued to freelance throughout the 1960s. During this period, he often worked with Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, who were later members of ABBA. He also worked regularly with American musician Quincy Jones. In 1971, Holmquist joined the

Swiss Radio Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF; "Swiss Radio and Television") is a Swiss broadcasting company created on 1 January 2011 through the merger of radio company Schweizer Radio DRS (SR DRS) and television company Schweizer Fernsehen (SF). The ne ...

big band, and in 1976 he moved to Berlin as a member of the RIAS (Radio in the American Sector) big band. In 1978, he became a member of the

James Last Orchestra The James Last Orchestra was a German/multinational big-band orchestra. The orchestra was established in 1964 as a studio orchestra, led by jazz musician Hans Last. The orchestra started touring in 1968 and has been very popular worldwide. From 1 ...

, a position he held until 2013. He performed with

Kai Warner Kai Warner was the stage name of Werner Last (27 October 1926 – 9 July 1982), a German bandleader and musician, and the brother of James Last and Robert Last. Biography Born in Bremen, Warner took piano lessons from Ernst Weelen and rece ...

, Freddy Quinn,

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...

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, and Lill Lindfors. Holmquist died on 26 March 2020, after suffering from COVID-19 and Alzheimer's disease.Musikern Olle Holmquist död av coronaviruset
Expressen. Retrieved 26 March 2020.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmquist, Olle Swedish trombonists 2020 deaths 1936 births People from Skellefteå Municipality 21st-century trombonists Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden 20th-century trombonists 20th-century Swedish musicians 21st-century Swedish musicians 20th-century Swedish male musicians 21st-century Swedish male musicians