BORN: LOS ANGELES, CA
EDUCATION: Crossroads School, Santa Monica, CA. | U.C.L.A. - 1995-6 Anthropology Major | New England Conservatory of Music, MA 1996-1998 - Jazz Piano Major. Private Studio with Jazz Pianist Danilo Perez.
INFLUENCES: Lightnin' Hopkins, James Oscar Smith, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Art Tatum, John Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Lonnie Smith, Eddie Palmieri, Fania Allstars, Ray Barretto, John Lee Hooker, Roy Eldridge, Duane Allman, Bud Powell, Jack McDuff, Horace Silver, Lionel Hampton,...
FAVORITE RECORDING: Okay, If I was stuck on a desert Island, assuming it had a record player, I would take my Bill Evans Riverside re-issue "Spring Leaves" because not only is it killing, it's relaxing...I might sneak some Lightnin' Hopkins along too...maybe some John Lee Hooker
FAVORITE LIVE CONCERT: Lionel Hampton closed the 1999 Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl. He got 20,000 tired and drunk people on their feet and moving. He didn't have no pyrotechnics, fancy lights, vocals, just pure love and soul. Killing.

How did you get started with music?

My father Gary, who is still working in the music industry (his trade is a recording engineer) told me when I was 7 1/2 years old that I had to start an instrument. He gave me the option of playing drums or piano. I picked piano and stuck with it.

What was your first performing experience?

My first gig was a classical piano recital with other students in my studio. That was cool but it was mostly for my family to come see me play. My first group performance was with Canyon School Elementary in 5th grade. We were pretty aweful but it was fun. Actually, it was funny because Joaquim Cooder was playing drums in the orchestra and his dad, Rye Cooder, would come in and help out. I remember one time I hadn't done my music homework and Ry got upset with my playing and told me to slide over. He sight read the chords on the piano and got frustrated and told me to play again. Rye was pretty cool to come down and help out. Inspired me at the age of 7!

When did you get into playing jazz and blues?

Thats a good question. I actually got started with jazz in 9th grade. Coming back from summer break my parents had signed me up for jazz workshop as an elective. I was pretty pissed off at them, at the time, because I thought it was going to suck. But, it turned out to a life changing class!
I got started playing the blues, by accident, a year later in 10th grade. I went down to a Sunday jam session with my pal Robin Moxey to sit in with LA's late J.J. Badboy Jones. After the gig J.J. told us, "if you really wanna learn the blues go to Babes and Rick's Inn on Central and 53rd on Monday night." We went down there and sat in and it was awesome. They had an old 88 key Fender Rhodes and I was able to sit in the whole night. They charged us $2 to come in and served up a friend chicken plate towards the end of the night. The people were really nice to us and were hooting and hollering during my solo and one latino guy liked it so much bought me an MGD and gave me a dollar tip. I was like, whoa, this ain't bad, I like being paid to play. It was a life changing experience playing down there. Meeting and jamming with Mickey Champion, Evans "neckbone" Walker and James Rudy was probably most influential period of my life.

 

How did you get in the Hammond B-3 Organ?

This is kind of a funny story. My first experience with the B-3 was when I was 4 or 5 years old. My mom had taken me down to visit my dad in the studio. My dad was working at the Record Plant in Studio B probably doing some tracking or overdubs for some band. As it ended up my Dad, Gary, brought me into the sound stage and showed me the Hammond. I remember thinking that the spinning leslie speaker was some kind of space ship or somthing. I mean my head only went up to about 1/2 way up the darn thing and I was scared of it. To make matters worse my dad sat down at the console and played some horrible mess of notes. I got really, really scared and started crying.
My first experience playing the Hammond was when I was 17 down at Babes and Ricks Inn. The old Rhodes piano had seen better days and a local cat Deacon Jones left his beat up B-3 set up in the club as a replacement. The first time I sat down at the B-3 I couldn't believe all the darn buttons and switches it had. The funny thing was that nobody showed me how to turn the Hammond on and once I finally got it running the hard part was figuring out how to get sound out of it. I still remember being suprised seeing the glowing light of the tubes from inside the leslie.

Keith Hollis - Jammin' on the squeeze at Hooker Street, 1999.

Keith Hollis' 1973 Hammond B-3 Organ at Hooker Street

Keith Hollis - Recording his first solo record, on his B-3 and Nord, this past November, 2004,at Sage and Sound Recording in Hollywood, CA.

Jay Leno Studio - Keith sitting at the Steinway conert grand he used to play on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last April, 2004.

Common Ground, Allston - Keith jammin' out with his old band Barnstorm on, Descarga in E, a tune he wrote for their last show.