Where Jazz and Home Meet 

Jazz pianist Max Holm recently traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, as one of only five finalists selected for the prestigious Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition — a career milestone arriving just as his Oklahoma story continues to unfold. 

The Edmond-based pianist is also a producer/composer whose work has reached more than 131 million listeners worldwide through film, television, games, and international brand campaigns. His jazz arrangements of Bach appear in the feature film Mothers’ Instinct starring Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain. 

He now teaches and performs and is completing a Master of Music in Jazz Studies and Music Production at the University of Central Oklahoma, both of which are cementing his place as one of the most compelling young musicians in American jazz. 

Recovery in Rhythm 

Holm came to jazz in his early teens after a serious health crisis. As he puts it, “Seven blood transfusions from seven strangers saved my life, and jazz gave me a reason to live it.” 

Following his recovery, Max practiced obsessively. He earned a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where he graduated summa cum laude and has been studying under NEA Jazz Master Joanne Brackeen since 2016. 

When Oklahoma Spoke Jazz 

Though he’s graced hundreds of stages across the United States and Europe, his craft always leads him back home. “Oklahoma chose me before I chose it,” Holm says. 

He arrived in Oklahoma when his mother won the Tulsa Remote Digital Grant. On the very first ride from the airport, his Uber driver had jazz on the radio. “It was not as background noise,” Max notes. “But with the passion of someone who knew its history cold. I hadn’t even checked into the hotel yet and this place was already speaking my language.” 

For Holm, Oklahoma was supposed to be one stop among many. Instead, it became home. “I’ve made 23 moves across the United States and Europe,” he says. “Among all of them, Edmond ranks as one of the safest and most culturally alive cities I’ve ever lived in.” 

What he soon discovered is that Oklahoma had been speaking jazz for generations. Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Muskogee produced legends most people outside the state do not realize were Oklahomans: Charlie Christian, the pioneering electric guitarist who transformed the genre; Chet Baker, the cool jazz trumpeter whose influence still resonates worldwide; and Jay McShann, the Muskogee pianist who launched Charlie Parker’s career. 

In the Company of Legends 

The deeper he dug, the more he found jazz woven into his own family history. His father, Lars Holger Holm, is a Swedish classical violinist who toured with Max Roach, one of the most important drummers in jazz history. And before Keith Jarrett recorded The Köln Concert, the best-selling jazz piano album ever made, Jarrett spent a month as a houseguest of Holm’s grandfather Sven in France. 

When Max later played his original composition “Gran Via” for legendary pianist Chick Corea, the response was immediate. “You make that piano sound good!” Corea told him. “Play that chorus again!” 

The Next Generation of Jazz 

“I wish people outside Oklahoma knew what a cool place this is to live,” he says. 

Fresh off his appearance at the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition, Holm hopes jazz continues finding new audiences and new musicians willing to carry the tradition forward. “The world needs more jazz musicians,” Holm says. “Jazz teaches you how to listen, adapt, and tell the truth in real time. We need more of that.” 

Follow Max at maxholm.com or on Instagram at @officialmaxholm.