Beautiful tribute! I was going to check out 5 minutes and ended up watching the entire thing. What an amazing person.
Question: what (if such a thing exists) would be considered the absolute peak of his playing? early/Mid 80s era?
Beautiful tribute! I was going to check out 5 minutes and ended up watching the entire thing. What an amazing person.
Question: what (if such a thing exists) would be considered the absolute peak of his playing? early/Mid 80s era?
That's a hard one. Although I love his playing with Bruford, UK, Soft Machine, The New Tony Williams Lifetime, Jean-Luc Ponty etc. I think for his solo-albums I love the compositions in the period between 1985 and 1994, Metal Fatigue to Hard Hat Area. But then again, on the two studio-albums after that (None Too Soon, The Sixteen Men Of Tain) his playing was at his peak. Soooo, no, I don't think such a thing exists.Originally Posted by chalkpie
IMO it's all essential, and there is "development" in Allan's music.
If you listen to his concepts and watch his techniques from the pre-solo career period (everything pre-IOU) and compare with what he was doing during the Road Games/Metal Fatigue period, that stuff is different. Then the Atavachron through Hard Hat Area stuff shows his voice in a different light. Everything after that differs, too.....from Sixteen Men on, I think it becomes more solidified as a sort of unique music...
I just want to post this video, here's an excuse to do it:
"And this is the chorus.....or perhaps it's a bridge...."
Glad the complete concert (Live In Japan 1984) was released on CD/DVD.
For more video's there's a fine site that has a lot of archive stuff: https://www.youtube.com/@aharchives/videos
If I were to recommend a starting point for a rock based listener, I’d have them pick up IOU, Road Games and Metal Fatigue. They are a kind of gateway into Allan’s solo albums. The later albums begin to traverse a more jazz oriented approach. All good. Secrets is my personal favorite.
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I saw this today, just posted.
A pretty nice rendition.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Here's a short piece from the forthcoming documentary on Allan Holdsworth, which is being directed by Greg Beaton and to be released in 2025.
Steve Vai talks about meating Holdsworth as a young kid during the UK-tour:
As posted in the Bandcamp-thread: a new archive release featuring Allan Holdsworth
New Dawn: Live 1973 from the Pat Smythe Quartet
Thanks for the heads up.
I love the playing by all on this release. It’s the side of Allan Holdsworth not explored on his solo material (real). This album fits in with the John Stevens & Propensity albums.
The band is tight and loose at the same time. Definitely a must have inclusion to the Holdsworth discography.
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This guy has taken it upon himself to learn Allan's chord system, describe it, and transcribe 600 pages of his solos. It took him a year and a half of work. It's probably only of interest to guitarists, but really highlights the genius of Holdsworth. It's almost like he had synesthesia translating music to the visual aspects of the fretboard. It doesn't really detail how you develop an 8 fret reach, but hey, you can only do so much in a video!
Last edited by Guitarplyrjvb; 04-17-2024 at 11:49 AM.
^ I expect you need the proper hardware...The proper hardware being very long fingers.
I received the CD this weekend. It's indeed a must have for Holdsworth-collectors, especially when you like his explorations into jazz.
I don't see the concerts which are compiled on this CD on the wonderful Calyx-site (July 27 and August 21 1973), but when you look at the chrononology these were done in the last months of his time with Tempest, so before he joined Soft Machine.
https://www.calyx-canterbury.fr/band...oldsworth.html
Mine showed up too! Essential listening for any Holdsy fan.
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