Did have lyrics? Oral history suggests yes. Seattle jazz historian Paul de Barros, in his book "Jackson Street After Dark," recalls that Holden would sometimes sing nonsense verses over the piano during late-night sets at the Washington Social Club .

was a very real and influential figure in Seattle’s jazz history.

In Jamie Ford's historical novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

On a rainy spring evening, after decades of scraping gold from the cracks of city life, Oscar played one last set in the alley where he’d started. The crowd was a patchwork of old students, diner regulars, and strangers who’d traveled just to hear him. He closed his eyes and let the final note hang until even the drizzle quieted. People remember the note not for its pitch but for what it did: it suggested more to come.

: Griggs researched Holden’s family and historical playing style to imagine how the song would have sounded.

—the "Patriarch of Jazz"—commanding the keys of a weathered upright piano.

A low, drawn-out yowl echoed from the shadows near the brewery.