New York-based saxophonist Mel Holder makes uplifting contemporary gospel-jazz that also finds him weaving in R&B, African, and Caribbean sounds. Emerging in Brooklyn in the late '90s, Holder's brand of music ministry came to wider recognition with his 2008 Stellar Award-nominated Music Book, Vol. 1. Along with recording for a bevy of reggae, R&B, and Christian artists including Sister Carrol, Niki Phillips, and Gary Anglin, he has continued to issue his own albums like the Top 20 Billboard gospel-jazz album Back to Basics: Music Book, Vol. II.
Born in Queens, New York to a ...