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04-17 R.I.P. Allan Holdsworth
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Guitarist Allan Holdsworth is widely considered to be one of the finest instrumentalists in all of jazz fusion, yet has never truly received
therecognition that he so rightfully deserves. Born on August 6, 1946, in Bradford, Yorkshire, Holdsworth was originally taught music by his
father,who was a pianist. Holdsworth didn't pick up the guitar until he was 17 years old, but learned the instrument quickly. After playing in
local outfits(and learning the violin), Holdsworth relocated to London, where he was taken under the wing of saxophonist Ray Warleigh. By
1972, Holdsworthhad joined pr ...read more
Guitarist Allan Holdsworth is widely considered to be one of the finest instrumentalists in all of jazz fusion, yet has never truly received
therecognition that he so rightfully deserves. Born on August 6, 1946, in Bradford, Yorkshire, Holdsworth was originally taught music by his
father,who was a pianist. Holdsworth didn't pick up the guitar until he was 17 years old, but learned the instrument quickly. After playing in
local outfits(and learning the violin), Holdsworth relocated to London, where he was taken under the wing of saxophonist Ray Warleigh. By
1972, Holdsworthhad joined progressive rockers Tempest, appearing on the group's self-titled debut a year later before joining Soft Machine
in December 1973 --and radically changing the latter outfit's sound to guitar-based fusion in the process. U.S. drummer Tony Williams
discovered Holdsworth aroundthis time, which led to an invite for the up-and-coming guitarist to replace John McLaughlin in Williams' Lifetime
project -- Holdsworth abruptlyleft Soft Machine in March of 1975, subsequently appearing on the Williams recordings Believe It and Million
Dollar Legs. But Holdsworth's unionwith Williams was a brief one, as the guitarist joined up with French-English prog rockers Gong for such
albums as 1976's Gazeuse! (released asExpresso in the U.S.) and 1978's Expresso II, in addition to guesting on recordings by Jean-Luc Ponty,
Bill Bruford, Gordon Beck, Jack Bruce, andUK.
Also in the late '70s, Holdsworth launched a solo career, which over the years has seen the release of nearly 20 albums (a few standouts
include1983's Road Games, 1985's Metal Fatigue, 1994's Hard Hat Area, and 2000's The Sixteen Men of Tain), as the guitarist has been joined
by suchacclaimed musicians as Paul Williams (a former bandmate of Holdsworth's in Tempest), Gary Husband, Chad Wackerman, Gary
Husband, JimmyJohnson, Steve Hunt, and Alan Pasqua, among others. In the mid-'80s, Holdsworth was one of the first musicians to use a
Synthaxe, a guitarthat contained a breath controller that proved to be a cross between a synthesizer, guitar, and saxophone (Holdsworth was
awarded Best GuitarSynthesist from 1989 through 1994 in the readers' poll of Guitar Player magazine). In the '90s, Holdsworth also created
his own signature guitarmodel with the Carvin company. In the mid-'90s, Holdsworth briefly shifted away from his fusion originals and
recorded an album with longtimemusical partner Gordon Beck that dipped into jazz standards. The Sixteen Men of Tain (2000) marked
another shift, in that it was the firstHoldsworth release to feature an all-acoustic rhythm section. This was followed in 2002 by All Night
Wrong, his first official live release. Then!Live in Tokyo was next, featuring Holdsworth's 1990 live band, which was followed by Against the
Clock, a career retrospective, in 2005. « hide |
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