Christopher Hollyday’s Vanishing Act
Like thousands of young jazz musicians before and after him, alto saxophonist Christopher Hollyday enrolled at Berklee College of Music to expand his artistic knowledge, learn from seasoned professionals, hone his skills, and chart a path for his future.
Unlike almost any other Berklee student in memory, Hollyday did so after having recorded four albums for a major record label, performing at major clubs and jazz festivals across the nation, and being hailed as one of the most virtuosic young lions of the late 1980s and early ’90s.
Moreover, when the Connecticut-born saxophonist enrolled at Berklee in 1993, his goal was not to lay the groundwork for launching himself into the national limelight. He had already been there as a recording artist and as the leader of his own bands, which included such budding young phenoms as pianists Brad Mehldau and Larry Goldings.
Instead, Hollyday enrolled in order to expand his instrumental palette—on clarinet and flute, specifically—and to prepare himself for a career teaching jazz. That is what he continues to do until this day just north of San Diego, where he moved in 1996 following a brief high-school student-teaching gig 20 miles outside of Boston in Lexington. His quiet transition to teaching may constitute one of the more notable vanishing acts in jazz.
“I was able to be at the right place at the right time,” said Hollyday, 49, who was just 18 when he signed a multi-album deal with RCA/Novus and made his debut solo album with such greats as Billy Higgins and Cedar Walton.
“I was able to get that magical ‘1980s triangle,’ which
