Allan Holdsworth

[Piranha]

Allan Holdsworth!

I never though I'd like jazz fusion until now. It's as complicated as it is to write his full name.

I listened to Cosmos and I really like it. What are some other good jazz fusion albums of his?

He doesn't play jazz fusion only, does he? I also listened to Forest of Feeling and it doesn't sound too much the same style.

Anyway, that's enough.

[Omega Monkey]

Holdsworth is awesome. I mostly prefer his earlier stuff. You should check out what he's done with:

Tempest
Soft Machine
Tony Williams Lifetime
UK
Bruford
his early solo stuff

Thats my favorite stuff from him in general. Also great is the album he did with the Johannson brothers called Heavy Machinery which is sort of like a blueprint for Planet X. I actually need more of his solo stuff in general, because I only have a few. Most of the stuff I have is him with other bands.

Anyway, fusion is awesome and theres tons of it that kicks ass.

[Staccato]

Yes, he is good.. and the bands Omega Monkey mentioned are all good.. and, no he doesn´t only play fusion, but must of the time he does! and he is really good at it! And yes, fusion rock!:D

[Liquid Shadow]

My favorite musician. A lot of people admire him for his lead playing above all else but I am the opposite. His solos are indeed great (Heavy Machinery features his best lead work imo) but what I really love is his songwriting and chordal playing. It's all so beautiful, and takes all these unexpected turns...yet they don't jerk you around at all, they work more perfectly than anything else ever could. And then you beat yourself over the head with a brick because you'll never be as cool as he is.


The scary part about him is how much he thinks he sucks. He sets such a high standard for himself...but look at what he's become as a result of that.



I think that a good all-around view of him is the live album Then. Some of his best-known songs and shows him in quite a few different musical situations...the Zones (spontaneous improv from the whole group) are sweet. Also has Steve Hunt on keyboards, who is bitchin' beyond words. There's a double CD called Around the Clock that is Allan's "best of," and that's got a good selection on it too.

[Luca_Capozzi]

Holdsworth is great :) Check out his works with Jens Johansson like Fission and Heavy Machinery.

Luca

[Asho]

Alan Holdsworth and Jens Johansson..... that would be pretty crazy.

[Syrinx]

Just to add my 2 cents, I was floored when I first heard his "Hard Hat Area" CD, then was "Secrets", "Sixteen men of tain", and the unexpected Jazz standards CD (played in his style of course) "None too soon". the stuff he did with Jens is also amazing.

Best.

[stealth]

Holdsworth is actually the guitarist on the upcoming Planet X CD (due at the end of the year I believe)

[pmarafio]

Check out this transcription from "Sand" - one of Allan's true masterpieces:

http://www.lucaspickford.com/transdistance.htm

This is the shit that separates the men from the boys. Harmonic structures like this are a bear to just navigate let alone improvise over with authority the way Allan does. He is undoubtedly a genius and one of the rare musicians to apply advanced jazz harmonic structures to rock guitar.

BTW, an excellent recent CD is All Night Wrong - killer stuff! Jimmy Johnson is one of the most under rated bass players of our time. He follows Allan through his harmonic journeys as though he had a map!

[pmarafio]

Holdsworth is actually the guitarist on the upcoming Planet X CD (due at the end of the year I believe)

Hmmm....don't count on it. I recently heard that this much anticipated union may have come off the tracks....unfortunately.

[Liquid Shadow]

Well he is still slated to appear on 4 of the songs, and Brett Garsed will do the rest. That was the latest word from Derek on their forums.