25909597

Most of you that are already familiar with me, know that trumpet playing and I have been synonymous since age 10 when I was in the 4th grade. I was born in Fresno, California, USA in 1977, the first of two sons of David and Carol Holmes. My Brother Bryce, who was a superb classical clarinetist and tech support guy, was killed in a car accident in 2003, rest in peace mi compadre. My first instrument was my voice in church children's choir in the 80's. My second was the piano which I attained an advanced-intermediate playing ability by the 6th grade and continued playing seriously through highschool. My third instrument, on which I've achieved the highest level of proficiency, artistry, and critical acclaim is of course the trumpet. I had wanted to play the saxophone, but the summer before the 4th grade my dad brought me home an old Conn Director Cornet that he found at an antique show in Oakhurst, California for $50. I figured I could always play sax later, but thankfully, that never panned out.....Kenny Poulson (saxophonist) was my first band director, and he started me out on that beat up Conn cornet with the sticky valves at Turner Elementary in Fresno, after I'd scored the highest in my school on the music entrance exam. A year later, Mark Kasparian (an awesome trumpet player in his own right) took over the Turner band and took me under his wing as one of his private students. He quickly determined that I was showing great promise for a youngster and obtained a trumpet from his middle school for me to use. After being selected to both the Fresno Unified elementary honor band and the Fresno Madera County jr high honor band (as an elementary student), Mark passed me on to another wonderful trumpet player and educator fresh out of Kansas by the name of Joe Lenigan. Joe brought me from an elementary school kid with promise, to a first chair player in both middle school and high school band and orchestra. Under his tutelage I made solo trumpet in the Fresno Unified middle school jazz band, continued to place highly in county honor groups, made all state honor band four years in a row, and all state orchestra my junior and senior years of high school. I was also assistant principal trumpet for the Fresno Youth Philharmonic all four years of high school under the direction of Rick Gratz. I toured Europe with the Youth Phil my Freshman year.....At Roosevelt High School, my alma mater, I had the privelage of being directed by the great Steve Alcala, another fantastic trumpet player and educator. Steve introduced me to playing jazz seriously, as well as the style of music I feel most at home playing and have received the most critical acclaim for, which is of course Latin-Jazz. My sophomore year with Steve I was selected as Best Trumpet Soloist at the 1994 Santa Cruz Jazz Festival for which I was awarded a new trumpet. My senior year I also received a $12,000 scholarship from the Sunny Brown Foundation toward the college of my choice.....I continued to work with Steve Alcala as well as the great guitarist/jazz educator Mike Dana at Fresno City College after spending a year at CalArts where I studied wieth Clay Jenkins & Roy Poper. I received the following awards while playing in the FCC Latin Jazz Ensemble: OUTSTANDING COLLEGE TRUMPET 1998 RENO INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL and OUTSTANDING TRUMPET SOLOIST 1998 UC BERKELEY PACIFIC COAST COLLEGIATE JAZZ FESTIVAL.....Some other musicians/educators that have also directly impacted my playing throughout my youth have been TONY LUNA, Benny Torres, Pete Ortega, Jimmy Emersian, Nate Ketner, Jason Jurzak, Robert Ruffner, Mateo Valadez, Joe Lewis, Gilbert Castellanos, Darrel Madeiros, Frank Zamora, Leonard Bedoian, Larry Honda, Paul Shagoian, Bill Butts, Kevin Cearly, Mark Wamhoff, Larry & Dale Engstrom, Lloyd Ellis, Ritchie Clendenin, Wadada Leo Smith, Clay Jenkins, and Roy Poper.....did I mention TONY LUNA???Since college I've worked for the Internal Revenue Service in Fresno and Tulare California while continuing to perform on trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as background and lead vocals, and more recently valve trombone.....I've performed and/or recorded with Touch of Brass, The 3/2 Jazz Orchestra, Fresno ska legends Checkmate!, Agent Spy, Fresno Children's Choir, Fresno Community Orchestra, The Statesmen Big Band, Joe Lenigan Little Big Band, Doug Gilmore's Hubba Hubba 2000, Horizon, Chevere, Latin Touch, Suavecito Band, CSUF Jazz Band "A", CSUF British Brass, Fresno City College Jazz ensemble, FCC Latin Jazz Ensemble, FCC Combo II, COS Thursday Night Band, various local high school Broadway show productions, Viper City Brass Band, PAZ, Arcelio Garcia's The Malibus, Rumba 32, Blu Onyx, Super Lucky Catz, and my new ska/reggae ensemble currently in the works.....I've had the opportunity to share the stage/open for such artists as TOMMY EMMANUEL, Arcelio Garcia, Arturo Sandoval, Bobby Shew, Gilbert Castellanos quintet, Conrad Herwig, Kristin Korb, Mark Whitfield, Jim Snidero, Rebbecca Mauleon, Wayne and Jackie Foster, Conjunto Cespedes, Susie Hansen, John Santos & The Machete Ensemble, Poncho Sanchez, The Skatalites, Let's Go Bowling, Chris Murray, Los Hooligans, Skinnerbox, Monkey, See Spot, The Hippos, Zane Musa, Mike Bolger, Jamieson Trotter, Dante Pascuzzo, Daniel Cervantes, Pat Olvera, Pete Ortega, Johnie Lopez, Jimmy Emerzian, Cheyenne Henderson, Richard Giddens, Jeanette Harris, Michael Harris, Benny Torres, Sean Aldrette, Aaron Wall, Nate Ketner, Jason Jurzak, Robert Ruffner, Dave Ruffner, Forrest Helmick, Doug Gilmore, Carl Schmidt, Ron Catalano, Dakota Iyall-Johnson, John Ayala, Steve Daily, Martin and Grace Ureste, Joe Lenigan, Kevin Cearly, Bill Butts, Mark Wamhoff, Les Nunes, Richard Levy, Carlos Rodriguez, Marisa Orduno, Margo Montoya, Hank "Handbone" Sandoval, Alan Rodriguez, Paul Shagoian, Mateo Valadez, Joe Lewis, Mike Rudd, Kevin Hill, David Baron Stevens, Dustin Peterson, David Hull, Richard Juarez, Marcos Castillo, Rick and James Derby, Jay Rossette, Raymond Montiero, Rob The Voice and Patrick Contreras among others...MySpace Layouts - myspace layouts