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 Wilderness Communications, and broadcasts from a transmitter in Oakdale, Lou ...

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) is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator. For six decades, he has been one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. Biography Early life Jamal was born Fr ...

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

KJLH KJLH (102.3 FM) is an urban adult contemporary radio station serving the Los Angeles area. It plays R&B and classic soul music under the format, and occasionally plays some hip-hop, gospel and smooth jazz tracks. Licensed to the Los Angeles ...

103.2 FM, owned by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, 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 trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition " ...

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 saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", whi ...

." All three albums are co-produced by David Axelrod. Holmes received a nomination at the

15th Grammy Awards The 15th Annual Grammy Awards were held on March 3, 1973, at the Tennessee Theatre (Nashville), Tennessee Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee. The event was the first Grammy ceremony not to be held in either New York City or Los Angeles (the 64th Ann ...

for "Best Spoken Word Recording" for ''Soul Zodiac''. Of ''Love, Sex and the Zodiac'',

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 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 '' ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

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 M. 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 a pr ...

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 Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Pol ...

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