- Christopher Holland
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Christopher Holland 
Holland playing as support act to Jools Holland in Thetford ForestBackground information Birth name Christopher William Holland Born 18 September 1966
Greenwich, London, EnglandGenres Boogie-woogie, blues, R&B Occupations Musician, singer, songwriter Instruments Piano, keyboards Years active 1982–present Associated acts Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra Christopher Holland (born Christopher William Holland, 18 September 1966, Greenwich, London, England) is an English keyboard player, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of Jools Holland and twin of Richard Edward Holland (drummer).
Contents
Career
Holland took up the piano at the age of seven. Recording his first song, "It's Getting Late", when he was just twelve, he used a vintage four-track reel to reel handed down from Jools and his then band, Squeeze. By his early teens while still at school, Holland formed his own band, B Sharp, playing mainly organ and singing. The band made their first television debut when they were spotted for a new show at the BBC. Holland left school at the age of 16 to tour extensively around the country for a couple of years, before being signed to Miles Copeland's I.R.S. Records label, releasing two singles: "While The Going's Good" (produced by Dennis Herring, who has produced Elvis Costello and Ben Folds), and "Tell Me Straight" (produced by Pascal Gabriel, the producer of S-Express, Inspiral Carpets and EMF).
In between working on his own music he has continued to tour, record and write with various other artists including Green On Red, Squeeze, Stereophonics, Paul Weller and Paul Carrack. Holland has also played electric organ, recorded and written for Jools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.[1]
1999 saw the release of his first solo album, Cosmic Harmony Companion (on Beautiful Records BT003CD), containing some of his earliest compositions and featuring various guest musicians.
A follow-up studio album Hoopatasso was released in 2002 in a limited number, which served as a taster for Brother Sun Sister Moon (BT004CD), which was issued in the summer of 2003 to critical acclaim, featuring Ash Soan (ex Del Amitri, Faithless) on drums, Lisa Covington and Ron Box on guitars, Dave Swift on bass and Sam Brown (background vocals); this was partly produced with Laurie Latham and Box.
Continuing to tour throughout 2004 with his band Cosmic Harmony, as well as playing solo shows, he released a one-off project with ex-B sharp member Lisa Covington, using a wide range of vintage keyboards, entitled Butterfly Effect (2005).
Between 2006 and 2007, Holland was in the recording studio, working on thirteen new songs featuring Edwina Hayes on vocals and Melvyn Duffy on lap–pedal steel guitar and Ash Soan on drums. The ensuing Everything You Can Imagine Is Real was released in 2007.
Discography
This is a list of the albums Holland has appeared on:
- Squeeze - Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti (1985)
- Green On Red - Live at the T and C (1989)
- Green On Red - Too Much Fun (1992)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - Live Performance (1994)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - Sex & Jazz & Rock & Roll (1996)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - Lift The Lid (1997)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - Best Of (1998)
- Squeeze - Domino (1998)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - Sunset Over London (1999)
- Cosmic Harmony - Companion (1999)
- Sam Brown - Reboot (2000)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - Hop The Wag (2000)
- Paul Weller (DVD) Live at Albert Hall (2000)
- Glenn Tilbrook - The Incomplete (2001)
- Jools Holland - The Swing Album (2001)
- Christopher Holland - Hoopatasso (2001)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - Small World Big Band (2001)
- Stereophonics - "Handbags and Gladrags" (2002)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - SWBB Volume Two: More Friends (2002)
- Squeeze - Big Squeeze: The Very Best Of Squeeze (2002)
- Christopher Holland - Brother Sun Sister Moon (2003)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - Jack O The Green (SWBB Friends 3) (2003)
- Christopher Holland's Cosmic Harmony - Butterfly Effect (2004)
- Jools Holland - Tom Jones and Jools Holland (2003)
- Jimmy Scott - Someone To Watch Over Me (2004)
- The Fields - Down The Wire (2004)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska (2005)
- Sam Brown - Best Of (2005)
- Ray Davies - "Thanksgiving Day" (2005)
- Chris Difford - Songs from the Weald (2006)
- Jools Holland R & B Orchestra - Moving Out To The Country (2006)
- Christopher Holland - Everything You Can Imagine Is Real (2007)
References
External links
Categories:- 1966 births
- Living people
- English rock musicians
- English keyboardists
- English songwriters
- People from Greenwich
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