Steve Holt (Canadian musician)

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Steve Holt
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Steve Holt
Background information
Born1954 (age 70–71)
Montreal, Canada
Genres Pop/Rock, Jazz
Occupation Musician
Instrument Piano
Years active1980s–2000s

Steve Holt (born 1954) is a Canadian jazz pianist.

Early life and education

Born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1954, Holt exhibited musical ability in early childhood, playing piano at the age of four. [1] By the time he was a teenager, Holt was a regular on the Montreal club scene. [1]

Contents

Holt remained self-taught until he entered McGill University. [2] There, he was taught by pianist Armas Maiste, whose bebop playing influenced him. [2] Holt also became a student of Kenny Barron, traveling regularly to New York City for private lessons with the pianist. [1] Holt graduated from McGill in 1981 with that university's first Bachelor of Music major in Jazz Performance, [3] and taught jazz improvisation there. [1]

Later life and career

In 1983, Holt's debut album, The Lion's Eyes, was released. [1] It was nominated for a Juno Award. [2] He has worked with jazz musicians Larry Coryell, James Moody, [4] Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, [5] and Archie Shepp. [1] Holt moved to Toronto in 1987 and worked as an equity analyst. [2] For a time, he also continued playing clubs at night. [2] Further albums were released in the 1990s: Christmas Light (1991); Just Duet (1992); and Catwalk (1994). [1]


In 1999, Holt returned to concentrating on music full-time. [1] Three years later, his fifth album, The Dream, was released. [1] He then moved into music production, and stopped performing jazz live [2] until 2014. Following a move to the countryside, his interest in jazz performance returned. [2] In 2017, he opened a health food store in Warkworth, Ontario, [6] that operated as a jazz venue (The Jazz Cafe) once a week. [7]

After a 20 year absence from the recording field, Holt released a new album in April 2025. The album, IMPACT, featured several new compositions and a new band, The Steve Holt Jazz Impact Quintet. [8] The album received widespread international acclaim. [9] [10] [11]

Discography

Singles

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Wilson, MacKenzie. "Steve Holt". AllMusic . Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hum, Peter (April 18, 2016). "'I Feel Like I'm Fully Invested Again in Jazz': The Steve Holt Interview". Ottawa Citizen .
  3. ↑ StudentScholarships.org
  4. ↑ "Canadian Jazz Archive".
  5. ↑ "Canadian Jazz Archive".
  6. ↑ "Owner of "The Natural" is Jazzing up his shop in Warkworth | Trent Hills Now" . Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  7. ↑ Williams, Caroline (Fall 2018). "Keeping Music Live at The Natural". Grapevine Magazine. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Steve Holt Returns with 'IMPACT' on April 25th via Inner Music". v13.net. 2024-04-03.
  9. ↑ "Paris Move".
  10. ↑ "Jazz Journal UK". 8 June 2025.
  11. ↑ "Midwest Book Review".
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