I've always been a big fan of Allan Holdsworth. I think it was my old friend Fredrik Thordendal from Meshuggah who got me interested in Holdsworth a long time ago. Since then I've gotten in and out of many different styles of music, but I still love listening to Allan Holdsworth.
Holdsworth has a technique most guitarist would slit their own throat for, yet he's not very happy with his abilities, from what I've read about him. I guess he is very self-critical, like so many artists tend to be.
As a guitarist, I try to pick up ideas for chords and legato lines, but Allan's playing is so advanced, that I rarely have the patience to really sit down and put in the huge effort needed to really learn something from him. He is not very mainstream. You'll never hear him play Chuck Berry licks over a blues. No, Holdsworth goes his own way, he always has. That is something I admire. Someone who is true to himself. No compromising. Granted, he may be losing out on fame and fortune to some degree, but I think a true artists will follow his/her calling and not the dollars.
Getting into Allan Holdsworth can be a bit of a jump for someone not used to very improvised music. I would suggest you give it a chance and listen to Allan's amazing improvisations. His style is hard to define. Some say it is jazz and some say it is rock. I say scrap the labels - it is music with a strong element of improvisation - you call it what you like.
I found some great youtube videos with Allan Holdsworth. Have a listen to a Master at work.
This is a very beautiful piece. I love this song.
Another old clip. This song was somewhat of a commercial success, and it's a really cool song with vocals.
My personal favourite albums by Allan Holdsworth are Secrets and Sand. The latter has a lot of amazing guitar synthesizer work. The older Atavachron is also very nice, but anything with Holdsworth will be worth a listen.
It's been a while I've listened actively to him. I guess I should check out some of his more recent work. The last Holdsworth album I bought was Wardenclyffe Tower, which I would not hold as one of his best recordings, but there are still some killer tracks on it.
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Going to see him in May in Pittsburg. That'll be the 7th time. His unmatched talents leave me humbled, but greatly inspired. I have been a fan since Soft Machine. Although I'll never touch him on any level, his legato technique has taught me much. Better than meditation.
Comment added on March 28, 2008Technically he was (maybe sill is) decades ahead of his time.
Obviously he influenced a whole generation of guitarists, Scott Henderson and Bill Connors come to my mind.
I remember that every student wanted to sound like Holdsworth back in the 80ies.
Though I have great respect for what he does,
and for what he achieved, I think that he has always been is a musician's musician. It is all about improvisation, tone, scales, chords etc.
Guitar students admire him, but most of us will switch off the CD player after a while.
I met allan many years ago what a true gent and humble as they come. Before he performs he will walk around and met everyone how nice is that. Im just now trying to learn his style tuff beyond but its a goal and I have time.The dont mae guitars players like this enjoy every moment he is truly a genius!
Comment added on December 30, 2007Again, thanks for the blog Robert. I was getting into different music by 1984. I was working as an apprentice sound engineer and had the good fortune to accept offers of some great gigs. One of them was the AH show on 9/28/1984 in Cincinnati. The set up and sound check went so smoothly that I wound up having time to play frizbee with Jeff Berlin and Chad Wackerman. My take on AH then was that he was an imense talent but was painfully reserved. An introvert actually. Unlike the other impressive guitarist I crewed for in the same year: Prince!
Comment added on December 22, 2007