Allan Holdsworth - Earth

[Polypet]

Just FYI:

We've pledged to Allan Holdsworth's campaign for his new release here:
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth

And received the first track which is quite yummy

It's a tune by Virgil Donati featuring him on drums and Jimmy Johnson (who takes a truly tasty solo) on bass. I like the tune a lot. It's quite dense and abstract but with a surprisingly funky and complex rhythmic underpinning. Virgil is monstrous on the track. So much of the drumming is built on the underlying rhythmic character, and he's all over that in a jazz friendly way. Almost comes off as too showy but restrained enough that it works.

I highly recommend checking out Mr. Holdsworth's page above, if you don't know about this already. This track bodes very well indeed for his new album which, personally, i can't wait to have in my hot little hands

Check it out. You'll be glad you did

Kim

[chalkpie]

Will check out now - thanks man

[interbellum]

Slightly OT: is the AH-forum http://holdsy.com/index.php been hacked?

[Polypet]

I don't know... i've not ever visited that site. Of course, it's entirely possible

Looks more like a bug in the coding or a corrupted file on the server than a hack, though.

[Reach]

Nice. Glad this happening.

Maybe I'm overlooking something though, but is there an actual hardcopy CD/Vinyl for sale, or just digital files?

[Polypet]

Nothing's for sale yet. He's working on the material for an album. If one has pledged, they get digital files as they're completed. He just released the one so far but it's quite good.

K

[Reach]

Thanks K.

[Shadow]

Nothing's for sale yet. He's working on the material for an album. If one has pledged, they get digital files as they're completed. He just released the one so far but it's quite good.

K

That's like getting a Christmas gift every month instead all at one time. That would suck.

[No Pride]

I was mildly disappointed with the track, to be honest. What's funny is that it was offered in two versions, one without solos... and until Holdsy comes in with a solo about 4 minutes into it, I thought I had clicked on the wrong version. I think it was because there was nothing that I perceived of as a melody; it was more like chords and rhythm. But hey, it was a Donati tune and being familiar with his writing from having two Planet X albums; that's not shocking. He's a fantastic drummer, but I never warmed up to his composing, though it's often rhythmically interesting.

Holdsworth sounds somewhat restrained here. I don't mind that, but he's played so many amazing solos and (at least by his standards) I don't consider this one of them, though I'll admit I'd be happy to be able to play remotely as well as him at his worst. For me, the best thing about the track was Jimmy Johnson's bass solo, which was one of his best... and that's saying a lot! That was really incredible!

I certainly don't mean to discourage anybody from pledging for Allan and helping him to release this album. I have no doubts whatsoever that there will be excellently mind-blowing tracks to come... I just thought this was off to an unremarkable start, especially after waiting 15 years for him to release some new studio material.

[aith01]

That's like getting a Christmas gift every month instead all at one time. That would suck.

Would it?

The nice thing is you don't have to listen to the songs until they are all completed.

[aith01]

[...] I certainly don't mean to discourage anybody from pledging for Allan and helping him to release this album. I have no doubts whatsoever that there will be excellently mind-blowing tracks to come... I just thought this was off to an unremarkable start, especially after waiting 15 years for him to release some new studio material.

Has it really been that long ago?

That is way, way too long.

[No Pride]

Has it really been that long ago?

That is way, way too long.

His last studio album, The 16 Men of Tain came out in 2000. He's been touring a lot in those 15 years and I'm under the impression it's been necessary for him to do so in order to make a living... which of course is beyond pathetic. I consider him to be a genius of the highest order, but being an uncompromising artist who's music clearly isn't for everybody, I guess it's not shocking.

[aith01]

His last studio album, The 16 Men of Tain came out in 2000. He's been touring a lot in those 15 years and I'm under the impression it's been necessary for him to do so in order to make a living... which of course is beyond pathetic. I consider him to be a genius of the highest order, but being an uncompromising artist who's music clearly isn't for everybody, I guess it's not shocking.

I didn't realize The 16 Men of Tain came out so long ago, or that it was his last album of new material. That's a real shame, especially if he's having to continuously tour just to make a living. Like you said, it's not surprising, but it still seems unjust.

Glad to hear that there is still time to pledge for the new album though, as I forgot to several months back. I'd very much like to chip in for this one.

[progholio]

Regarding the tasty new track - is Alan playing conventional sounding guitar or synth thingy?

[No Pride]

^
There's Synthaxe in the chordal accompaniment, but the solo is on guitar.

[Zeuhlmate]

But then we have " Blues for Tony" (2009)

[Polypet]

The tune is a grower and, though it's not a Holdsworth tune it's not unheard of for him to do other's tunes (Steve Hunt and Gary Husband tunes, for instance).

That said, i certainly don't feel slighted in the least. It's a tasty track with tasty playing all around especially that bass solo (extra yummy). I'm personally looking forward to the next one and have no doubt the album (assuming there is one) will be very good. If this tune were the worst thing on there, it would still be pretty cool. Yes, it's a drummer's tune but there is some lovely guitar work and, as a drummer myself, i must say the drum part is impressive and inspired.

To knock things at this stage (Christmas gift every month sucking yada squonk) is to help generate the energy which will stop people from bothering to produce altogether, imo. It's hard to make a living doing any sort of "out" music (as evidenced by Allan and everyone else really, in this day and age, needing to TOUR - possibly at a loss - to make any money, since records ain't gonna do it now). I'm happy to help him in this cause and trust that the quality will be no different than the other fine music he's enriched my life with. I'm MORE than happy to get a tune ahead of release whenever he's able to send me one. Honestly, i feel like i've been let inside a little bit. Otherwise, i'd be waiting possibly 15 more years until the album proper is released. Life circumstances and the realities of the post-internet free music entitlement mentality have made it very hard for any independent artists to produce high quality music. If my feeble pledge helps him to squeeze out even just this one tune, i feel it's been worth it.

If you haven't pledged already, again i'd suggest you do. This first offering was very promising, whatever one may think of the tune's merits relative to the rest of Allan's tunes. And i'm very happy to know he's in the studio making more of them.

Christmas every few months? A gift from Allan Holdsworth? Hell yeah, i'm perfectly down with that

K

[Grimjack]

^^
This

[Reginod]

Finally took the pledge plunge earlier tonight.

Glad I did, based on "Earth".

[Reginod]

His last studio album, The 16 Men of Tain came out in 2000. He's been touring a lot in those 15 years and I'm under the impression it's been necessary for him to do so in order to make a living... which of course is beyond pathetic. I consider him to be a genius of the highest order, but being an uncompromising artist who's music clearly isn't for everybody, I guess it's not shocking.

So where does Flat Tire come in? That came out in 2001 according to my copy. I admit not being familiar with the story behind it.

In this millennium, Holdsworth has at least played in other bands or on a lot of other artists' projects, in some cases playing a pretty major role.

Softworks in 2003
Riptyde's Sonic Undertow in 2004
K² - Book of the Dead in 2005
Corrado Rustici's Deconstruction of a Post Modern Musician in 2006
Jean-Luc Ponty - The Acatama Experience in 2007
Planet X- Quantum in 2007
Gary Husband's Dirty & Beautiful projects in 2010 and 2012

Plus the Blues For Tony stuff with Pasqua, Wackerman and Haslip yielded a lot of wonderfulhood.
Then there were some other live releases, and a pretty good load of archival material from Soft Machine, Gong, Bruford, Danny Thompson and Lord knows what else. But as always with Allan Holdsworth, you gotta do some digging.

It's also worth mentioning that "Earth" is a good 10+ minutes long. Not some little quick sketch. It's the real deal.

[No Pride]

The tune is a grower and, though it's not a Holdsworth tune it's not unheard of for him to do other's tunes (Steve Hunt and Gary Husband tunes, for instance).

That said, i certainly don't feel slighted in the least. It's a tasty track with tasty playing all around especially that bass solo (extra yummy). I'm personally looking forward to the next one and have no doubt the album (assuming there is one) will be very good. If this tune were the worst thing on there, it would still be pretty cool. Yes, it's a drummer's tune but there is some lovely guitar work and, as a drummer myself, i must say the drum part is impressive and inspired.

To knock things at this stage (Christmas gift every month sucking yada squonk) is to help generate the energy which will stop people from bothering to produce altogether, imo. It's hard to make a living doing any sort of "out" music (as evidenced by Allan and everyone else really, in this day and age, needing to TOUR - possibly at a loss - to make any money, since records ain't gonna do it now). I'm happy to help him in this cause and trust that the quality will be no different than the other fine music he's enriched my life with. I'm MORE than happy to get a tune ahead of release whenever he's able to send me one. Honestly, i feel like i've been let inside a little bit. Otherwise, i'd be waiting possibly 15 more years until the album proper is released. Life circumstances and the realities of the post-internet free music entitlement mentality have made it very hard for any independent artists to produce high quality music. If my feeble pledge helps him to squeeze out even just this one tune, i feel it's been worth it.

I feel the same way and didn't mean to imply that I feel "slighted" in any way. Holdsworth is up there near the top of my "favorite living musical artists" list and I'm proud to be able to help him out in anyway I can within my limited means. As I implied, I have no worries that this is not going to be yet another great album by a musical visionary that has enriched my life in more ways than I can express.

Speaking of how hard it is for creative musicians that are somewhat in "left field" within the vast realm of the world's music... I saw another one of my favorite artists last night, (guitarist) Scott Henderson and his trio. There were about TWENTY people in the crowd; the smallish venue wasn't even half full. They still managed to play their butts off (and have fun in the process), but how long can you sustain the "good fight" like that if nobody gives a shit?! We need to support the artists that are struggling to put out the music we love, or it won't be feasible for them to give it to us anymore; it's as simple as that.

So where does Flat Tire come in? That came out in 2001 according to my copy. I admit not being familiar with the story behind it.

In this millennium, Holdsworth has at least played in other bands or on a lot of other artists' projects, in some cases playing a pretty major role.

Softworks in 2003
Riptyde's Sonic Undertow in 2004
K² - Book of the Dead in 2005
Corrado Rustici's Deconstruction of a Post Modern Musician in 2006
Jean-Luc Ponty - The Acatama Experience in 2007
Planet X- Quantum in 2007
Gary Husband's Dirty & Beautiful projects in 2010 and 2012

Plus the Blues For Tony stuff with Pasqua, Wackerman and Haslip yielded a lot of wonderfulhood.
Then there were some other live releases, and a pretty good load of archival material from Soft Machine, Gong, Bruford, Danny Thompson and Lord knows what else. But as always with Allan Holdsworth, you gotta do some digging.

It's also worth mentioning that "Earth" is a good 10+ minutes long. Not some little quick sketch. It's the real deal.

I forgot about "Flat Tire." It's his only album I haven't played to death, partially because he only uses the Synthaxe on it... and iirc, there aren't other musicians on it and the drums are programmed. Still no excuse; I gotta dust that one off and give it some fresh spins!

There's two releases from The Holdsworth/Pasqua Band, a DVD and a 2 disc CD set. Both live (and different nights from one another) and both KILLER; highly recommended! That band slays, especially Alan Pasqua, one of the most criminally underrated jazz and fusion keyboard players around.

[Polypet]

I feel the same way and didn't mean to imply that I feel "slighted" in any way. Holdsworth is up there near the top of my "favorite living musical artists" list and I'm proud to be able to help him out in anyway I can within my limited means. As I implied, I have no worries that this is not going to be yet another great album by a musical visionary that has enriched my life in more ways than I can express.

Speaking of how hard it is for creative musicians that are somewhat in "left field" within the vast realm of the world's music... I saw another one of my favorite artists last night, (guitarist) Scott Henderson and his trio. There were about TWENTY people in the crowd; the smallish venue wasn't even half full. They still managed to play their butts off (and have fun in the process), but how long can you sustain the "good fight" like that if nobody gives a shit?! We need to support the artists that are struggling to put out the music we love, or it won't be feasible for them to give it to us anymore; it's as simple as that.



I forgot about "Flat Tire." It's his only album I haven't played to death, partially because he only uses the Synthaxe on it... and iirc, there aren't other musicians on it and the drums are programmed. Still no excuse; I gotta dust that one off and give it some fresh spins!

There's two releases from The Holdsworth/Pasqua Band, a DVD and a 2 disc CD set. Both live (and different nights from one another) and both KILLER; highly recommended! That band slays, especially Alan Pasqua, one of the most criminally underrated jazz and fusion keyboard players around.

Scott Henderson playing to 20 people, yeah. Wow. State of the "arts" today. Even harder for those of us whose art comprise the recordings themselves and not "playing songs live". I certainly couldn't afford to "tour" even if i wanted to, for monetary and time reasons.

Someone like a Steely Dan or an XTC would be hosed in this new environment and our lives would be less musically rich because of that. But it is what it is, i guess. It's a good thing Scott and Allan and the others who are no longer springy chickens can actually get out there and play to those 20 people. $150 after expenses is better than nothing eh?

At least those 20 people got to hear some quality music! But still... 'tis a sad place for the independent artist and even for working musicians like yourself, God Bless 'Em.

And that Holdsworth/Pasqua band really is deadly. Alan Pasqua is such a brilliant musician and that band slays

K

[aith01]

Just pledged for this, finally. I'm looking forward to hearing Earth when I get home from work today.

[marblesmike]

I pledged to this campaign today as well. I think it's a good way for Allan to get his music out and make some coin doing it.

I also really liked the track. Nice tasty solos across the board. Can't wait to hear more tracks.

[aith01]

Also, thank you guys for reminding me I still need to explore Scott Henderson's (and Tribal Tech's) music catalog.

Gary Willis recently put out an album as well I believe.

So much new fusion to listen to, so little time.