FEB 29-MAR 3 | Noise Pop @ SFJAZZ
Feb 29, 2024
Joe Henderson Lab
PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production
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Original show description below.
Whether behind the piano on a windswept mountainous cliff, at a hallowed venue such as Carnegie Hall, or playing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the most legendary musicians in history, solo pianist Holly Bowling subverts convention with virtuosic playing, emotional immersion, and a thirst for invention. Acclaimed by Rolling Stone, Billboard, Relix, and sought-after by icons such as Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, and Warren Haynes, she once again flips the script on her 2020 album and second reimagining of Grateful Dead staples, Seeking All That’s Still Unsung.
After a childhood dedicated to the instrument, she studied piano performance at SF State University. After catching a 2013 Phish show, she transcribed and arranged the entire 37-minute improvisational masterpiece “Tweezer” into a nuanced and intricate piano opus.
As her profile rose, she delivered Better Left Unsung only a year later. For this triple-LP, she re-arranged iconic moments from the Grateful Dead on her piano. It bowed in the Top 25 of the Billboard Top Classical Albums Chart. She went on to share the stage with everyone from The Dead’s Weir and Lesh to Haynes, John Scofield, Jim James, Branford Marsalis, Don Was, Robert Randolph, Greensky Bluegrass, and more.
"Seeking All That’s Still Unsung is a lyric from a Dead song,” she explains. “There was definitely a sense of trying to look for what I hadn’t said on the last album. Having spent a few more years exploring the Dead’s music in the solo piano context, I felt free enough to take more liberties with how I approach the arrangements and improvisation.”
Holly Bowling brings her reimagining of the Grateful Dead and Phish to SFJAZZ
Heady, layered improv-rock excursions distilled into crystalline solo piano pieces.
Rolling Stone on Holly Bowling
Heady, layered improv-rock excursions distilled into crystalline solo piano pieces.
Rolling Stone on Holly Bowling
Watch & Listen
Holly Bowling
China Cat Sunflower
Holly Bowling
Unbroken Chain
Holly Bowling
China Cat Sunflower
Holly Bowling
Unbroken Chain