Fans of the local jazz group Riptide Big Band know well the incredible vocal skill and beautiful voice of Holly Williams, the band’s lead female singer. She has a clear voice that navigates the complexity of jazz melodies with emotive prescience.
Williams brought years of jazz singing experience to the band when she auditioned in 2013, she told the Sun. She has sung her whole life, but she also performed for years with a band led by Doc Severinsen, of Tonight Show with Johnny Carson fame.
“I studied music more in the classical style in my education before I got to jazz,” she said. “Jazz is just a very challenging music, and my voice was more conducive to that.”
Another more serious challenge came to Williams’ life when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. She has battled the disease ever since, all the while rehearsing and performing with groups like the Riptide Big Band between chemotherapy sessions and recovery.
For four years now, Williams has hosted an annual holiday concert titled Christmas with Holly, which she uses as a fundraiser for Hats for Hope. The organization provides chemotherapy patients with hats, a concept that is near and dear to her heart as someone battling cancer, Williams said.
“I like the idea of Hats for Hope because right now I don’t have hair, and I haven’t had hair for a lot of these nine years,” she said. “But I want it to be a happy time when people are together raising money, I’m not going to just beg for money—you get something out of what you’re going to donate to with the music and food and wine.”
This year’s Christmas With Holly concert features Williams with the Riptide Big Band and the band’s lead male vocalist Bob Nations. Williams and Nations will perform several duets and Nations will take a couple of solos to give Williams a rest during the set.
Williams is currently going through rounds of chemotherapy, she said, so performing through an entire set is a challenge. But music is one thing that has helped her through her years-long battle, she said.
“When I’m singing I don’t think about my illness,” she said. “It takes you to a whole other place and it’s wonderful that people enjoy it so much. And I’ve been singing my whole life, so it’s just part of me.”
The holiday season has always been a big part of her life as well. Williams, who turns 50 years old this month, said she has felt close to December and the holiday season throughout her lifetime.
“My name is Holly, so I just love this time of year,” she said. “I’ve just always felt like Christmastime was my month.”
Williams said that the 50 years of her life have been “a blessing,” and that continuing to perform and supporting organizations like Hats for Hope is a way she can give back.
“It’s also to show people that just because you are given a tragedy doesn’t mean that you should just give up,” she said. “What do you do with a tragedy, do you give up or give back? My feeling is that you give back because I’ve just got a lot more out of going in that direction.”
Arts Editor Joe Payne is astounded at the courage and strength of cancer fighters like Holly. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 15-22, 2016.