: Despite his immense talent, no known professional recordings of Holden's music exist in real life, a fact Jamie Ford used to add mystery to the "lost record" in his novel. Musical Re-creation
Henry and Keiko first hear Holden perform the song at a jazz club on Jackson Street. alley cat strut oscar holden
The most compelling theory comes from an interview with Holden’s granddaughter, pianist Joni Holden Allen, conducted in 1995. She recalled: : Despite his immense talent, no known professional
"Alley Cat Strut" is a fictional jazz record by the real-life musician Oscar Holden She recalled: "Alley Cat Strut" is a fictional
When you listen to the original acetate recordings (most available through the University of Washington’s Ethnomusicology Archives), you hear the clink of glasses and the distant murmur of a room. Holden plays the melody with a detached coolness, as if he is watching the late-night crowd from a barstool. The "strut" isn't aggressive; it’s confident, lazy, and slightly dangerous.
Jamie Ford included Holden in the book to ground the fictional romance in the authentic, vibrant atmosphere of the 1940s Seattle music scene. Can You Listen to It?
was a very real and influential figure in Seattle’s jazz history.