Terrence Holder


Terrence Holder was an American jazz trumpeter and territory band leader. While he did not achieve fame in his own life, he worked extensively with bands in and around Kansas City and was an important member of the city's musical life in the 1920s and 1930s.
Holders played with Alphonse Trent in the early 1920s, and in the middle of the decade started his own ensemble, the Dark Clouds of Joy. However, he was unable to keep control of the group; late in the decade his bandmembers dropped him and had Andy Kirk take his place. This band changed its name to the Twelve Clouds of Joy, or the Clouds of Joy, at which point Terrence Holder formed a new band using the original name.
Following this Holder played in various groups on the Kansas City jazz scene of the 1930s, including with Buddy Tate, Budd Johnson, and Claude Williamson. In the 1940s he played with Nat Towles, but found less and less work as time went on. He eventually quit music and moved to Billings, Montana, where he worked in a copper mine. His date of death is uncertain.