Soft Machine & Allan Holdsworth Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 1974

[Phlakaton]

Totally agree his solo stuff always left me cold yet I love him with Soft Machine Bruford Gong ,UK
I saw him in 85 doing the Synaxe tour and I fell asleep in the middle of the show ...

His playing with Tony Williams Lifetime is my favorite.

[arturs]

Strangely common with jazz musicians, I find. I've played with so many people who are just phenomenally talented and bring an incredible amount to other people's music, but left to their own devices, they tend toward the formulaic. Holdsworth obviously isn't "formulaic" in any conventional sense, but it does seem like he writes to his own formular requirements rather than to what the music actually ends up sounding like. The piece with the most tonally ambiguous five-note chords in the fewest bars wins!

(Of course, it's also totally possible that he just has wildly different ears than mine, and I don't mean to minimize his brilliance. He is brilliant. It's just a rather pastel, monotone brilliance that I can't always get behind.)

We had a similar conversation in a Holdsworth thread not too long ago. I used to feel very similarly to you and the several other recent posters in this thread: Holdsworth on his own is impenetrable, he plays too many notes, he needs a band to keep him in check, etc.

I felt that way even after seeing him live several times. But during one of those live performances the penny dropped. I now find his solo work completely brilliant and absorbing, and with a great variety of emotional content. I think the key is that you have to give it your complete and total concentration. And maybe don't listen to more than 2-3 tunes without a break!

Of course he was brilliant with Soft Machine as well!

[interbellum]

It is my impression that that title has been cancelled.

Thanks. Well, I don't order very often from the Artist Shop, but always get their newletter. The link I gave, http://www.artist-shop.com/eone/index.htm comes from the latest newsletter. So I should read "Coming Soon" as "Neverwasneverwillbe"? Not that I mind.

[Dave]

It is my impression that that title has been cancelled.

SOFT MACHINE - 1974-03-19 My Father's Place, Roslyn, NY

Setlist:

1) Hazard Profile Pt. 1 (8:11)
2) Hazard Profile Pt. 2
Hazard Profile Pt. 3
Hazard Profile Pt. 4
Hazard Profile Pt. 5 (9:56)
3) The Floating World
joint (synth / drums duo) (10:31)
4) joint (part 2)
The Man Who Waved At Trains
Ealing Comedy (bass solo)
Bundles
Land Of The Bag Snake
drum solo
jam
drum solo
jam (reprise) (36:39)
Encore:
5) encore jam (10:40)

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-d....php?id=489239

[Reginod]

I understand where people are coming from in their criticisms of Holdsworth's solo material, and I don't necessarily disagree with those criticisms . . . . . . . . .

But despite that I've always seriously enjoyed his solo albums, and similar to arturs' statement above I too have perceived a lot of emotional range in his music. At the very least Holdsworth has a unique approach and sound; for me it is quite something to hear and enjoy.

Interesting, too, to note that he hasn't put out a studio solo album since, I think, Flat Tire in 2001.

[mjudge]

We had a similar conversation in a Holdsworth thread not too long ago. I used to feel very similarly to you and the several other recent posters in this thread: Holdsworth on his own is impenetrable, he plays too many notes, he needs a band to keep him in check, etc.

I felt that way even after seeing him live several times. But during one of those live performances the penny dropped. I now find his solo work completely brilliant and absorbing, and with a great variety of emotional content. I think the key is that you have to give it your complete and total concentration. And maybe don't listen to more than 2-3 tunes without a break!

Of course he was brilliant with Soft Machine as well!

Yeah, and I realize that I might suddenly get it someday, too. I used to suspect that Anthony Braxton was a kind of performance-art sham, but then I heard his record with William Parker and Milford Graves, and his early stuff with Circle, and went, Ohhh, okay.

[Camelogue]

Late to the thread. I first heard Hodsy in the mid 70's and he has delighted mostly, disappointed occasionally.

Need to get this ordered.

[mjudge]

For comparison's sake, I just went back and listened to Gazeuse! for the first time in years, and was struck by how much more interesting I find "Night Illusion" than Allan's solo work. I don't even think "Night Illusion" is that great a piece of music, but it's such a blast of fresh air to hear him playing in an environment with actual orchestration and dynamics, and it adds such depth to hear his cluster chords spread across vibes, guitar, bass, etc. Anyway, that's about the second of my two cents.