Allan
Holdsworth is
well known to
contemporary
musicians as an
uncompromising
virtuoso who
redefined and
re-invented the
voice and scope of
the electric guitar.
To the mainstream of
rock and jazz
audiences, he
remains a little
known, unsung hero.
To the initiated,
Holdsworth looms as
both musical legend
and commercial
enigma. In the early
70s, he began as a
sideman to the
protean forces who
merged rock's
electric
instrumentation and
driving pulse with
the improvisational
mastery associated
with jazz.
Holdsworth provided
the searing,
flamboyant edge that
galvanized that
era's most
celebrated
recordings by the
likes of Soft
Machine, Tony
William's New
Lifetime, and
Jean-Luc Ponty. The
sounds of Django
Reinhardt, Charlie
Christian, and later
John Coltrane were
among the primary
inspirations that
led Holdsworth away
from his passion of
bicycle racing, and
into dance hall
gigs, playing the
Mecca circuit in
Northern England.
Born in Bradford, in
1946, Holdsworth had
been tutored in many
aspects of musical
theory and jazz
appreciation by his
father, Sam, an
accomplished amateur
musician.
With the 1990
release of
Secrets
Holdsworth further
revealed his rich
musical vision,
where contemporary
forms of music are
crafted in an
improvisational
context in defiance
of conventional
boundaries - a full
range of emotions
and textures. The
Wardenclyffe Tower
opens a stunning new
chapter in a solo
career that
blossomed during the
80s. As a producer
and composer, he
continues to explore
and expanding galaxy
of guitar synths
with a balance of
his famed
legato-lead stylings
and an ever evolving
array of chordal
colorings. This 1992
album is stocked
with further
electric guitar
innovations,
including two tracks
featuring his newly
designed family of
mutant, baritone
guitars.
Wardenclyffe Tower,
like Secrets
features
contributions from
world-class musical
collaborators,
including long-time
bandmates like
drummer Chad
Wackerman bassist
Jimmy Johnson
drummer/keyboardist
Gary Husband
and keyboardist
Steve Hunt and
drummer Vinnie
Colaiuta. The
sum of Holdsworth's
production realizes
an enchanting
rhythmic and
harmonic chemistry -
or alchemy - potent
with unexpected
melodic twists and
turns. The
spontaneous, fiery
dialogue of group
live performance is
framed in
Holdsworth's
meticulous,
state-of-the-art
production
techniques. The
Wardenclyffe Tower,
Holdsworth's seventh
solo project, was
dedicated to the
technological
visionary and great
inventor, Nikola
Tesla; its title is
taken from one of
Tesla's greatest
dreams.
Many rock fans first
became aware of
Holdsworth's
inventiveness when
his musical presence
dominated two of the
definitive
"progressive rock"
albums of the late
70's, U.K.,
and Bill Bruford's
One of A Kind.
The successful 1978
debut release by
U.K. was a band
originally slated to
be a reunion of King
Crimson until Robert
Fripp backed out of
the project -
Bruford suggested
the remaining trio
try working with
Holdsworth - known
then as a promising
English "jazz/rock"
guitarist due to his
work with Tony
Williams, Gong, and
Jean-Luc Ponty. The
personal chemistry
of U.K. soon
proved too volatile
to contain four
musical leaders in
one group setting.
Holdsworth and
Bruford left the
band, and continued
their earlier, more
jazz oriented
venture in Bruford,
but Holdsworth still
felt trapped in the
confines of slick
studio
mega-productions. He
longed for a more
immediate,
live-oriented
recording method,
and the less rigid
ensemble dynamics he
found so vital
during his work with
Tony Williams.
Like
few guitarists
before him,
Holdsworth realized
a style, tone, and
technique in a
league of its own -
one he still strives
to perfect. Many
musicians who heard
him never again
looked at the guitar
in quite the same
way. In the 80s,
growing recognition
followed a series of
successful solo
recordings and
extensive U.S.
touring. An
increasingly
supportive
international
audience embraced
Holdsworth in Japan,
and more recently in
Europe and
Australia. He
received a Grammy
nomination in 1984,
and later won five
consecutive awards
from Guitar Player
Magazine's readers'
Poll as "Best Guitar
Synthesist", which
inducted him into
the Guitar Player
Hall of Fame. His
fascination with the
innovative
guitar-like synty
controller, the
Synthaxe, began
during the mid-80's,
and soon found him
eventually attaching
a breath controller
to it - perhaps
continuing a
subconscious pursuit
of the instrument he
was first attracted
to - the saxophone.
Today Holdsworth is
widely revered as a
virtuoso stylist -
and perhaps the
world's pre-eminent
guitar synthesist.
As for the legacy of
his accelerated,
legato lead guitar
phrasing, Guitar
Player's editor, Tom
Mulhern credited him
as that rare sort of
guitarist who
"originated his own
school" of guitar
playing. By 1979,
Holdsworth found his
London-based career
at a standstill.
Just as rock's new
wave found its way
to the pop forefront
by the onset of the
80s, Holdsworth left
Bruford, and
immediately found
difficulty in
launching a new rock
project with friend
rock legends Jack
Bruce and John
Hiseman. Bruce would
later appear as a
guest on
Holdsworth's 1984
solo release Road
Games (Warner
Bros.), along with
Bruford alumnus Jeff
Berlin & drummer
Chad Wackerman.
Holdsworth began his
solo career after
meeting Gary Husband
- a brilliant
musician, and
eventually produced
his first "official"
solo project,
I.O.U., with
Gary Husband and
Paul Carmichael. It
was recorded in 1979
(re-released on
Restless), and
independently
released two years
later in the U.S.
Having nearly given
up on music, friends
prompted him to move
to Southern
California where an
eager and devoted
core following
awaited him. Eddie
Van Halen, who had
met Holdsworth when
U.K. opened for Van
Halen during a 1978
U.S. tour, helped
secure a contract
with Warner Bros.,
but the relationship
with Warner Bros.
soured when record
company executives
dabbled with
creative control
during the Road
Games sessions.
He soon struck up a
partnership with the
fledging label
Enigma (later bought
out by Capitol),
which later became
his current label,
Restless. His
production work
became more refined,
and he broadened a
roster of guest
vocalist appearances
through the course
of Metal Fatigue,
Atavachron,
Sand,
Secrets,
Wardenclyffe Tower,
Hard Hat Area, None
Too Soon and the
new release The
16 Men of Tain.
Allan Holdsworth
continues to tour in
Japan, Europe, and
the U.S. A review by
L.A. Times jazz
critic Don Heckman
raved about
Holdsworth's new
touring band, saying
that Holdsworth was
"an unlikely guitar
hero whose phrasing
has much in common
with the expressions
of saxophonist John
Coltrane".
Holdsworth still
pursues a daily
passion as an avid
cyclist (when
touring and
recording permit)
and currently
resides in North San
Diego County. Like a
true Englishman, he
relishes sampling
and serving fine
ales of the world
during the brief
respites from his
music.
Biography courtesy
of Christopher
Hoard.
-
DISCOGRAPHY
-
-
I.O.U.
- Cream Records,
1985
-
Metal
Fatigue
- Cream Records,
1985
-
Atavachron
- Cream Records,
1986
-
Sand
- Cream Records,
1987
-
Secret
- Cream Records,
1989
-
Wardenclyffe
Tower -
Cream Records,
1992
-
Hard Hat
Area -
Cream Records,
1994
-
None Too
Soon -
Cream Records,
1996
-
The 16 Men
of Tain
- Cream Records,
1999
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