The you tube channel continues to reach new people, generate kind comments, and stimulate interesting dialogue. Here's a wonderful comment I received a few months ago:

"Joe Holt is my favorite piano player of recent years. He "plays with passion - wooing the piano instead of punishing it" as some modern players are accustomed to doing. The piano is to Joe, a sensuous musical companion that mirrors his musical imagination and various interpretive moods. In his "love affair " with the keyboard, you will seldom hear the same song played the same way twice. When you listen to Joe, listen with your heart."

Most of the comments, however, are directed toward a particular toon, and some are more analytical. Here's one from a recent post:

"Nice playing Joe. Great bass lines and swing feel throughout. I especially liked the block chords and some of those altered voicings. Five stars. "

Now I have new friends, and as we communicate, I can take in new things, and sharpen my own thoughts. Here are some of my words in an e-mail reply (to the gentleman above, who is a good "modern jazz" player who also posts on you tube), commenting on attitudes toward differing stylistic approaches:

"There are still occasions (though, thankfully, it seems, less than before) where guys in these different places will be condescending to others (fundamentalism isn't just for religions, it seems). From where I sit, it seems that "modern" (though as a bass player friend pointed out - modern jazz?, no - it's all old!") approaches incorporate the analysis, and then teach it up front in jazz education. This to me, can create both great music, and a potential disconnect. I happen to be one of those guys who "came up" in the '70s, hanging with, and influenced by the old big band era guys (and thankfully, I was in the pipeline before they were - now almost completely - gone). I tried, hard, in the early '80s in study (the only jazz lessons I've had) with a top tier guy, to shift my approach, only to finally understand that you don't re-invent the wheel - and - "modern" condescending guys (not you) aside, it's all legit; the dart just hits the board at a different place. Rod Dixon, a black operatic tenor (of the "3 Mo' Tenors") says something (among much else) that really resonates with me: "When it's all over and they go home, the people don't remember what you sang (played, for us), they do remember how you made them feel"."

I'm enjoying the conversation.