- Milt Holland
-
Milt Holland (February 7, 1917 – November 4, 2005) was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnic musicologist, and writer in the Los Angeles music scene who pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian percussion styles in jazz, pop and film music, traveling extensively on those continents to collect instruments and to learn the musical styles of playing them.
Milt was born Milton Olshansky in Chicago, Illinois, where he attended the Theodore Roosevelt High School (Chicago). His first instrument was violin. Milt moved into his passion of percussion, playing in clubs and shows as well as on CBS Radio in Chicago. At twelve years old he was playing speak-easys for the likes of Al Capone. In the early 1940s he toured and recorded with The Raymond Scott Orchestra.
He is survived by his wife Mildred Holland, his sons, Richard Holland and Robert Holland and his grand children, Damien and Chloe.
He studied Tabla at UCLA and with Ramnad Easwaran and in India studied with Tabla master Chatur Lal beginning in 1963. He traveled through India extensively in the early '60s and '70s, then spent many years in Africa studying tribal rhythms. He was inspirational in introducing the exotic instruments to western recording.
After moving to Los Angeles, he played on countless jazz and pop albums, film and TV scores. A tiny sampling of artists he worked with includes Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Chaka Khan, John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Elmer Bernstein, Quincy Jones, Nat King Cole, "Hank" Mancini, Loggins and Messina, James Taylor, Ella Fitzgerald, Laurindo Almeida, Ry Cooder and Joni Mitchell. He played Pandeiro and Triangle on Mitchell's hit Big Yellow Taxi and Congas and Percussion on Light My Fire with José Feliciano.
Milton was part of the famous so called "Wrecking Crew" because the studio musicians who belonged to this elite group got all the work and wrecked it for the rest. He has won countless gold and platinum records for his contributions but shied away from any publicity. The thing he was perhaps most proud of was being instrumental in desegregating the Los Angeles Musicians Union.
Eventually he became the first choice for exotic percussion among Los Angeles free-lance session musicians.
In films, Milt can be heard playing bongos on soundtracks for West Side Story, timpani on Silent Running, to name only a tiny fraction of his output. He was featured along with seven illustrious percussionists on John Wayne's Hatari! (1962) which included Shelly Manne, Jack Sperling, and Larry Bunker playing African instruments on The Sounds of Hatari and title track as well as in the soundtrack for the TV mini-series Roots, the nose tinkle on Bewitched and Tinker Bell in the Disney cartoon "Peter Pan"..
Discography
- Big Yellow Taxi (1970)
- Ladies Of The Canyon (1970)
- Court And Spark (1974)
- Hits (1994)
- Dreamland (2004)
Frank Sinatra
- "The Capital Years"
- Ry Cooder (1970)
- Into The Purple Valley (1971)
- Boomer's Story (1972)
- Paradise And Lunch (1974)
- Chicken Skin Music (1976)
- Bop Till You Drop (1979)
- Get Rhythm (1987)
- 12 Songs (1970)
- Sail Away (1972)
- Good Old Boys (1974)
- Little Criminals (1977)
- Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman
- Gorilla (1975)
- In The Pocket (1976)
- Greatest Hits (1976)
Loggins & Messina
- Loggins And Messina (1972)
- Best of Friends (1976)
- Sittin' In Again (2005)
- Full Sail
- Mother Lode
Doobie Brothers
- What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits (1974)
- Long Train Runnin' (1973)
- Playin' Up a Storm (1977)
- Keep The Fire (1979)
- Aerial Ballet (1968)
- Point! (1970)
- Aerial Pandemonium Ballet (1971)
- Son of Schmilsson
- Best Of The Gabby Band (1971–1979)
- Sailin' Shoes (1972)
- Dixie Chicken (1973)
- The Best of Poco (2000)
- Takin' My Time (1973)
- Bonnie Raitt Collection (1990)
- Fall Into Spring (1974)
- Another Passenger (1976)
- Gracias A La Vida (1974)
- Joe Cocker (1969)
- Best of Joe Cocker (2000)
- Gold
- Rock My Soul (1972)
- Safe As Milk (1967)
- The Spotlight Kid (1972)
- Clear Spot (1972)
Roy Harte & Milt Holland
- Perfect Percussion (1961)
- Whole Lot Of Schifrin Goin' On (1968)
- The Latin Sound Of Henry Mancini (1965)
- Mancini '67 (1966)
- Mancini Salutes Sousa (1972)
- Blue Note Plays Burt Bacharach (1968)
- Westside Story
- Plays Contemporary Music Of Mexico And Brazil (1962)
- Ole! Bossa Nova (1962)
- Brazil & Beyond (1981)
- Brazilian Soul (1981)
- Acapulco '22
- Sam Songs (1955)
- Oscar Peterson and Friends (1952)
- Retrospective
- Black Magic Woman (1971)
- Friendly Persuasion (1965)
- Get Happy (1957)
- Hello Love (1960)
- Feliciano! (1968)
- Souled (1968)
- Ringo (1973)
- Running Down the Road (1969)
- Amigo (1976)
Rufus with Chaka Khan
- Ask Rufus (1977)
- Graham Central Station (1975)
- Instant Replay (1969)
- The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees
- Greatest Hits (1976)
- Tarzana Kid
- Complete Signature & London Recordings (1942)
- Anita Sings the Most (1957)
- Fancy Meeting You Here (1958)
- Come on-a My House
- The Very Best of Rosemary Clooney (2006)
- Young Dino
- 'Tell Laura I Love Her
Bill Plummer
- Cosmic Brotherhood (1968)
- Today, Tomorrow, Forever (1964)
- Like Three O'Clock In The Morning (1963)
- After Hours (1963)
- Stoney End (1974)
- Back To Mono (1958–1969)
The 5th Dimension
- Age of Aquarius (1969)
- Individually & Collectively (1972)
- Living Together Growing Together (1972)
- Icarus (1972)
Four Freshmen
- Voices In Latin (1958)
- The Freshman Year (1958)
- Webb Sessions (1968)
- The Yard Went On Forever... (1968)
- The Now Sound For Today's Lovers
- School Days (1976)
Bud Shank / Clare Fischer / Joe Pass
- Brasamba! (1963)
- Best Of The Concord Years (2000)
- Seasons (2007)
- Sound Of Mann
- Verve Jazz Masters 56 (1996)
- Discover America (1972)
- Secret Of The Andes (1982)
- Less Than The Song (2007)
- Life Machine (2007)
Doug Dillard
- Banjo Album (1969)
- I Hear Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw
- Wholly Cats
Bonaroo
- Bonaroo (Wounded Bird)
- Photograph (Double Exposure)
Dirk Hamilton
- You Can Sing on the Left or Bark on the Right
Sanford & Townsend
- Duo-Glide
Seals & Crofts
- Summer Breeze (1972)
Various Artists
- Samba do Avião
- A Jazz Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim
Soundtracks
- Peter Pan (1953) (Tinker Bell's Twinkle)
- Man With The Golden Arm (1955)
- Around The World In 80 Days (1956)
- The King And I (1956)
- Hot Rod Girls (1956)
- I Want to Live! (1958)
- Johnny Staccato (1959) (Actor - role ″Musician″ Episode title ″The Parents ″)
- Westside Story (1961) (Bongo soloist)
- Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
- To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
- Hatari! (1962) (Featured African Drum Ensemble)
- Bonanza (1962)
- Bewitched (1964) (Samatha's Nose Twitch)
- Party[disambiguation needed
] (1968) - Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966)
- Mission Impossible (1968)
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)
- HELP! (1965)
- Charly (1968)
- Performance (1970)
- Dollars (1972)
- The Hot Rock (1972)
- Roots (1977)
- The Long Riders (1980)
- Southern Comfort (1981)
- Blue Collar (1995)
- Kissing Jessica Stein (2002)
- Honey West[disambiguation needed ] (2005)
- CBS Studio Orchestra (1941–1946)
External links
- 2001 video of Milt at home showing his instrument collection to Peter Langston and Dave Yost (posted 2007-09-27)
- Verve Records bio page
- Rhythm Section Session Players listing by Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews (partial list of recordings)
- Disogs.com discography (partial list of recordings)
- Milt Holland at the Internet Movie Database
Categories:- 1917 births
- 2005 deaths
- American drummers
- American session musicians
- Musicians from Chicago, Illinois
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