The momentary appearance of a blip on a radar screen is suggested by the discography of pianist Bob Holmes, but jazz oral history suggests a more long-range presence, certainly involving interesting projects that unfortunately do not seem to be documented. Discographical crime scene investigator Tom Lord finds Holmes present on a grand total of two recording sessions between 1974 and 1978, making sound on a combination of acoustic and electric keyboards and percussion. He is, of course, not the same person as reed player Bobby Holmes, active in an earlier era and probably guilty of playing on two recording sessions per day.

Finding one's way to Holmes inevitably leads to drummer John Betsch, an excellent player who received wide exposure as a member of the Steve Lacy Quartet. In interviews, Betsch has listed Holmes as among one of the very first musicians he began playing with back in the college days. This collaboration clicked; Holmes became a member of a group the drummer began leading, the John Betsch Society. This group will be remembered fondly by those fortunate enough to have been present in New York City during the so-called loft jazz days of the '70s, performing, for example, at the festivals held in Studio Rivbea.

Perhaps the group's name was partly responsible for its general unpopularity, a tad too close to the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization whose recorded messages about jazz as a Communist menace could hardly be perceived as swinging. There was an album for the Strata-East collective, presumably up to Betsch's standards, since efforts on this label were produced by the musicians themselves. The keyboardist contributed solidly to the lineup of compositions, including the album's title track, Earth Blossom, the African-influenced Ode to Ethiopia, and a fine piece co-written with the bandleader which presented a musical view of Open Pastures.

Bassist Billy Cox, of Jimi Hendrix fame, has also mentioned working with an ensemble called

Bob Holmes and the Jazz Excursion, but due to the thick supply of musicians with this name, and the fact that this group has never recorded, it is difficult to determine for certain if this is the same fellow. At any rate, a 1997 compilation of tracks from various Strata-East albums included a track from the Earth Blossom album. The great reception this collection received, combined with Betsch's higher profile following the Lacy years, could just lead to a bit more attention for Holmes and the music he made in the days of the John Betsch Society. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi