Groove Holmes Finds His Healing Touch
Holmes leads a quartet that swings hard, mixing organ soul-jazz with straight-ahead groove.
That Healin' Feelin' arrived in 1968 when soul-jazz was at a crossroads — no longer the novelty it had been five years earlier, but not yet canonized as essential. Richard "Groove" Holmes had been working steadily in the organ-combo format, and this session caught him leading a strong unit that understood what he was after. AllMusic gave it five stars, noting especially the contributions of Rusty Bryant on saxophone and Billy Butler on guitar, both players who knew how to balance technical skill with soulful directness.
What makes this record work is its refusal to overthink things. Holmes doesn't treat the organ as a vehicle for virtuosity but as a rhythm instrument with personality — it drives the grooves, opens space for the soloists, and never gets in the way of the song. Bryant brings a rough-edged tone that fits the soul-jazz idiom without apology, and Butler's guitar work is economical and tasty, never cluttering what Holmes has laid down. The rhythm section keeps everything locked in place, which is the whole point of soul-jazz: make people feel it, don't make them work to understand it.
This isn't Holmes at a peak of innovation or influence, but it's solid professional work done by musicians who understood their audience and delivered without pretense. The album built its reputation quietly over time rather than arriving as an event, which is fitting for a record whose whole philosophy is straightforward healing rather than artistic statement.
Who's playing
Les McCannpiano
George Freemanguitar
Ben Webstertenor saxophone
Lawrence "Tricky" Loftontrombone
Ron Jeffersondrums
Where next?
More by Richard Groove Holmes
All 34 albums →
The musicians on this record
Coleman Hawkins encounters Ben Webster 1959
Ben Webster
plays tenor saxophone here
plays tenor saxophone here
Jazz Waltz 1963
Les McCann
plays piano here
plays piano here
