Pianist Scott Holman gets up at four in the afternoon, when most of his Glenview neighbors are preparing to leave the office. When he gets home from work, one of his weekly gigs in Palatine and Naperville, his wife and children are just beginning to stir. Appropriately enough, his debut CD is titled Don’t Wake the Kids (Southport).
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
“When you’re addicted to jazz, you’ve always got something playing on your turntable,” says Holman. “And yet in the late hours, that can disturb the family. This album is really designed to be listened to at a low volume and yet keep your interest as though it were high-energy music. Usually when you play something soft it’s soothing, and this isn’t designed to be soothing. It’s designed to be intriguing, but at a mellow level.”
Holman’s music can refer back to other people’s work: occasionally the trio slips into mellow grooves reminiscent of Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue (which features Holman’s idol Bill Evans). Holman seems to be after the delicate balance between exploration and restraint that won Davis both critical raves and a sizable audience. Yet his ultimate goal may be spiritual, as evidenced by the titles of his compositions (“The Lord’s Cause,” “Marching in His Band,” “The Face of God”). On the back of the CD booklet, he links the titles together to form a religious poem. “That’s a salute to God,” he explains, “and it emphasizes my feelings that the music is supposed to have a continuity.”
