Born in Brooklyn, Tcheser Holmes was raised in a creative family with deep ties to the Pan-African community. His mother was an art teacher, and his uncle was a classically trained pianist who immigrated from Panama. At age four, he was given an African djembe and eventually began playing percussion and drums. During high school, he gained valuable extracurricular training via the Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege program and eventually enrolled at the New England Conservatory in Boston. There, he befriended trumpeter Aquiles Navarro. Bonding over their shared Panamanian backgrounds, the pair embarked on a fruitful partnership, touring Panama and developing their expansive, genre-bending mix of free jazz, Latin traditions, and electronic music. Since then, Holmes has been involved with a broad range of musical styles, including experimental improvisation.

Instagram: @bigtcheser_

Bandcamp: https://tcheserholmes.bandcamp.com/album/the-t-is-silent