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I'm not much of a fusion guy, but Holdsworth's playing is just astounding. The contours he uses with fast scale runs, interval patterns to sound angular, altered and chromatic harmony, his rhythmic prowess. Just amazing.
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12-20-2022 01:09 AM
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Have a listen to this
love the electric stuff, but wish Allan had recorded more on acoustic cos it’s bloody gorgeous it is. Also Gordon, what a beast.Last edited by Christian Miller; 12-20-2022 at 12:24 PM.
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Great stuff!
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Completely agree. I absolutely love Holdsworth. I consider myself lucky to have seen him live, in the Robin 2 club in Wolverhampton, in 2007, with Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Johnson.
These are two of his most beautiful creations:
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His music, life and personality have been like an epitome of a musician being original, unconventional, non compromising..
First album I heard was "Sand", which was just unbelievable for me at the time.. Still is!
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I get a bit annoyed when people compare the instrumental fusion players of the day to him (oh god another shred solo on a funk fusion backing track, someone shoot me please); he was such a complete musician. No one around in that world is remotely like him. Sorry. None of them (don’t get me wrong there’s plenty who have copied his sound and technique. Not the same.)
Jazzers? No one knows who they are now apart from maybe Kurt (and that’s questionable). So they don’t have the cross over appeal to the wider guitar world. Shame really. There’s also a few honest to god jazzers who can play in his style. Again, you can copy the approach but he came up with it. Lightning in a bottle.
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Let’s get to the point. He was a genius, one of the greatest of all time.
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I saw him play at the Renfrew Ferry in Glasgow years ago. It's the only gig I've ever been too where at the end of one of Allan's incredible solos, the audience laughed in appreciative amazement. It was one of those long solos where he built loads of tension and then just resolved it beautifully at the end. Fantastic. Metal Fatigue is my favourite album of his.
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Why "Mofos"?
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My introduction to his acoustic playing was the opening to 'Nevermore' from the self-titled album by U.K. released in 1978. A friend of mine bought the record when it came out and I remember us taking it back to his place after school and being stunned by all of Allan's guitar work:
Originally Posted by Christian Miller
Last edited by PMB; 12-20-2022 at 04:40 PM.
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He’s the man.
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Being emphatic in a joking way. Originally Posted by Guy In Lyon
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He is a genius. He is one of the few people to bridge the jazz/rock divide successfully. He fit comfortably into the jazz fusion and rock fusion camps, playing with Frank Gambale, Jean-Luc Ponty and Stanley Clarke, as well as former members of Yes and King Crimson.
Very few people combine such virtuosity with exquisite musicality. In fact, at times it’s almost more than one can deal with, which is why I think he was not more celebrated during his lifetime.
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Just stunning. Sounds better and better with each listen. Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith
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with Gary Novak....damn.
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I can take maybe a minute but usually less...Never could listen to a whole tune, just not my thing... I was amazed at the ability when he first came on the scene but never could get into what he was doing. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
No offence anyone....
S
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He was a mutant with the altered and chromatic harmony of his lines and his rhythmic delivery. Noone plays like that! Originally Posted by srlank01
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I wish I liked his music as much as everybody else. I feel I am missing something, failing to understand him.
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^ I feel it's musician's music and I like the theory of it lol! Because it isn't traditionally melodic. It's purposefully dissonant, jarring, and chromatic, but he's still extremely melodically effective with it in his way. The majority of it is 'out' rather than diatonic but he still makes it functional is what is so impressive and enjoyable to me.
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I am down with the dissonance, but he does not move me.
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Besides, he is a lot less dissonant than much of the music I enjoy.
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I'm happy for you that you have elevated taste in music.
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His pickin technique is great.
So why some guitarist change picking for Benson picking ?
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Here’s a track from what many think is the best UK jazz-rock fusion album, Belladonna by Ian Carr of Nucleus. It is also - I’ve read - Holdsworth’s first-ever recording. It’s full of blues-rock and atonal licks. I think he’s playing his Gibson SG. He hadn’t fully developed his style yet, but the evidence is there…
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