Wack Wack - The Young Holt Trio

Yesterday

Wack Wack
The Young Holt Trio
Instrumental Group Directed by Gerald Sims
Produced by Carl Davis
Cover Photo by Hal Buksbaum
Brunswick BL 754121
1966

From the back cover: Many of you who are familiar with the famous "Ramsey Lewis sound" are also familiar with the co-leader of The Young Holt Trio, bassist Eldee Young and drummer Isaac "Red" Holt. For together they were two-thirds of the sound that sold hundreds of thousands of albums and singles under the name of The Ramsey Lewis Trio.

The Young Holt Trio, however, is not an extension of the sound they helped to make a house-hold word – and for a very good reason. His name is Hysear Don Walker, a pianist who prefers to be called Don, and who prefers to swing rather than waste time talking. Don's piano style is uniquely his own, and in a world where so many pianists sound alike, it is refreshing to hear one who sounds like nobody else, and yet conveys an exciting musical message.

Don began studying the piano at the age of six, and by the time he entered high school, in his home town of Evanston, Illinois, he was a seasoned band leader. Don also studied the saxophone and the trumpet, and won two consecutive championships for his proficiency on the latter. In addition, he studied at Northwestern University, and prior to his joining The Young Holt Trio accompanied such stars as Joe Williams, Lurlean Hunter, Mose Allison and Bill Henderson.

Eldee Young received his musical apprenticeship at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He began his professional career as a guitarist, but later switched to bass. In 1959, he was nominated to Downbeat's New Star Poll and later recorded an album on which he made his debut as cellist. Eldee, called the diminutive "string" man by most critics, is credited with effectively introducing the cello to "soul" sounds, and his many recordings with this instrument have been heralded by fans and performers alike.

Issac "Red" Holt also studied at Chicago's Conservatory Of Music. His professional credits include playing with the last Lester Young, Wardell Gray and James Moody. "Red" is one of the few drummers to draw on the primitive style of using everything available – cymbals, tambourines, triangles, even fingers and elbows – to make his playing more versatile and exciting. "Red" cannot be called simply a drummer. He is a percussionist personified, and is credited with introducing the tambourine to jazz.

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