Jools Holland on Tour
The multi-talented Jools Holland has done it all. Pianist, bandleader, composer, session musician, author and television presenter.
Born Julian Holland in London in 1958, the young Jools learned to play the piano at an early age and, as a teenager, regularly performed in local pubs and clubs. At the age of 16, Holland was recruited as keyboard player for the band Squeeze. Staying with the band until 1980, Holland played on many of the band’s most memorable hits including "Cool for Cats" and "Up the Junction". When Squeeze regrouped in 1985, three years after breaking up, Jools Holland returned to the band and was featured on the hit single "Hourglass". In 1989, Holland played keyboards on the Top 10 Fine Young Cannibals' song, “Good Thing”. He left the band for good in 1990.
Since the mid-nineties, most of Holland’s time has been spent as the leader of the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. Influenced by the boogie-woogie sound he loved as a child, Holland and his orchestra play regularly in the UK, around the world, and collaborate with scores of fellow artists from various genres. The Small World Big Band albums have all proven to be big-sellers, featuring musicians such as George Harrison, Sting, Paul Weller, Eric Clapton, Bryan Ferry and The Stereophonics to name just a few. In 2004, Holland teamed up with Tom Jones.
Jools Holland has been a regular face on British television screens since the early eighties when he became one of the presenters of the music show, “The Tube”. 1992 saw the first episode of the long-running late night music show “Later...with Jools Holland”, which has featured guest appearances over the years from the likes of BB King, David Bowie and Oasis. Since 1993, Jools Holland’s Hootenanny has become a New Year’s Eve television tradition featuring many of the stars from the “Later”...series. In 2007, Holland released his autobiography, Barefaced Lies and Boogie-Woogie Boasts.
