Jazz Police - LA Beat: Sony Holland Quintet at Steamers

Sony Holland has had a long-lasting desire to sing, from a very early age growing up in a small town, Pelican Rapids, northwest of Minneapolis, MN. She says on her website, “There was always music in our house while growing up.” Holland has spent the last several years preparing her vocal chops, learning the music business, and working at some of the better known jazz clubs on both East and West Coasts. She has learned to use the best musicians in putting her shows on a higher level. She has a wide selection of songs and, in particular, has fallen in love with the many gems from the Great American Songbook. This was her first appearance at Steamers on Friday, February 5th.

Her band members are Theo Saunders--piano and arranger, John B. Williams--bass, Steve Cotter--guitar and Tony Austin--drums. Her husband, Jerry Holland, is a guitarist, composer and arranger, and also her musical confidant. He sat-in on several numbers with the group during the show.

Their opening number was “Barcelona,” a lively little tune written by Jerry Holland. The quintet played it well and Saunders presented one of the many fine piano solos that he would perform this night. Bassist Williams structured opening lines for “You’d Be So Nice to Come To.” Holland dug into this number quickly. Her voice is pleasing and convincing, her stage presence charming. She sings to her audience, taking them into the song and telling a story of the number as well.

I noticed quite a few of Holland’s songs were shorter than usual, some around 3 to 4 minutes. She was able to put more numbers into each set. “The Nearness of You” was done in solo style (piano and voice). The result was wonderful with a totally expressive rendition that the audience loved. Other tunes included “More Than You Know,” “It’s An Understatement” (another written by husband, Jerry), “Honky Cat” (an Elton John composition) and “As You Are” (Jerry). Guitarist Cotter plays splendidly and played a stirring solo during choruses of latter tune.

A highlight was “Life After Dark,” late, great saxophonist’s Teddy Edward’s gem. Saunders Latinized much of his piano work for this tune, giving a lot of vitality to the ensemble. Tony Austin’s stellar drumming included two good solos during the first set, one during “Life After Dark.”

A second set standout was “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” made famous by vocalist great, Roberta Flack, also one of Holland’s key influences; others would be Sarah Vaughn, Nancy Wilson and Tony Bennett. Closing the set was a jazzed rock ‘n roll tune, “You Can Never Tell.” Holland’s website is an interesting one with information about her career successes: www.sonyholland.com . The Quintet will return to Steamers sometime soon again. The audience said “yes” to this show.

Reprinted with permission from the March 2010 issue of L.A. Jazz Scene