Yeah, I dug Virgil. I can't remember the keyboardist's name, but I wasn't into his playing. He felt very much like the weak link in the group to me. The fact that he was added onto the tour at the 12th hour might have something to do with them not being able to get someone really good there.
Ok, I think I'm going to have to go to the Monday night at Iridium - after all, I can head over there after work, it's the least I can do for Allan.
Well, if we're dreaming I think the following combo would work well-
Holdsworth-gtr
Percy Jones-bass
David Sancious-keys and gtr
Tony Williams-drums
Latest news from Moonjune.
It gives you the name of the keyboard-player: Dennis Hamm. Plus new concerts with Gary Husband and Jimmy Haslip.
I've only seen Holdsworth once, and it was in a trio. Although I was mesmerized by the way he plays, AND really enjoyed the playing of the other two (Chad especially - I'm also a drummer), sometimes the improv got a little too heavy for me. I would totally lose "where's one" and the chordal underpinning Alan was supposed to be soloing against. THEY seemed to know where they were at (or one or two of them did, and led the way out ), but sometimes I got lost. On the video with Pasqua, they are a LOT more cohesive. I noticed the same tendency on "then", too. I think the soloist needs something to play against (otherwise terms like tension and release mean nothing), and when all three improvise, sometimes that sort of gets lost.
Gnish-gnosh borble wiff, shlauuffin oople tirk.
Well, playing with rhythms, like juxtaposing a different meter over the original one while keeping track of where the original one is in the form of the tune is not uncommon in interactive modern jazz playing... and even "the greats" get lost sometimes. When you're constantly going out on limbs, the chances of them breaking from time to time will increase. There's a video on YT of Corea, Colaiuta and Pattitucci where Vinnie messes up Chick (a fearless player with time himself) and Chick looks at him and starts mouthing the words, "where's one?"... then Vinnie hits a crash cymbal to say "it's here!" It's one of the many challenges jazz players like to indulge in... and though most of Holdsworth's material is "straight 8th" oriented, it's still very much in the interactive jazz vein.
I know what you're saying about him without keyboards though; his stuff uses a lot of dense chords with 5 or 6 notes in them and without a keyboard player to spell them out while Allan is soloing, it's up to the listener to imagine those chords being played, which can be tough even for seasoned musicians like us. Of the half dozen + times I've heard him live, the concert I enjoyed the most was him, Chad, Skuli Sveresson (or however you spell it) and Steve Hunt on keyboards. On Holdsy's studio albums, you almost always hear the chords behind the solos, whether it's a keyboard or Allan overdubbing them himself... that's how I prefer to hear his music live.
When there are no keyboards, it helps to have a good bass player who instinctively knows when to throw in a major or minor 3rd, or whatever, to give the listener a better sense of the percieved chordal background.
Coming September 1st - "Dean Watson Revisited"!
According The unReal Allan Holdsworth Facebook-site there will be a book on Holdsworth this April:
We've decided on the cover for the second book to be published by Jazz In Britain (Jazz In Britain). We're aiming for a publication date of 15th April - the anniversary of Allan Holdsworth's passing. We believe it will be the first book on Allan and will cover all of his recordings up to 2020 and analyse all of his 1970s and 1980s British jazz radio sessions. It's looking really good so far; Ed Chang is a superb writer. There will also be a vinyl and downloadable album of previously unheard material from the early 1970s released simultaneously! We're very excited and hope you will be too. You could help us by indicating whether you're likely to buy this book in a comment or, simply, by liking this post as that will help us gauge how many copies to go for in the first print run. Keep watching this page!
Last year Sebastiaan Cornelissen recorded a special version of Metal Fatigue for his new album Bevel Around The Edges.
^ Thanks for sharing! I really like the original song (and album), so this is cool to hear.
^^^That was beautiful!
Thx for sharing!
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
Nice tribute! Thanks!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Pre-orders are available now: https://jazzinbritain.org/product/de...an-holdsworth/
(also for The Ron Mathewson Tapes, Vol. 1)
The book will be sold through Wayside. A link for pre-orders should be coming soon.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That's correct: Wayside for USA and Jazz In Brittain for Europe. This was the email-message Jazz In Brittain sent out:
A double historic first from
Jazz In Britain Ltd.
Available to pre-order NOW and released simultaneously next month, 15th April 2020.
Audio:
Holdsworth, Warleigh, Mathewson, Spring
Warleigh Manor: The Ron Mathewson Tapes vol.1
JIB-01-S-CD / JIB-01-S-DL
Available on CD and download.
U.S. customers can pre-order the CD from Waysidemusic.com later this week. Links will be posted as soon as we have them.
Rest Of The World customers pre-order the CD here:
https://jazzinbritain.org/…/warleigh...athews…/
Pre-order the download here: https://jazzinbritain1.bandcamp.com/...-the-ro…
Warleigh Manor contains a truly remarkable and previously unheard private session by four titans of British Jazz. Featuring an extended, predominantly free jazz suite across two distinct parts, it lay forgotten in a large box full of tapes for at least 40 years. The music can perhaps be best described as the sound of extraordinary telekinesis between players at the height of their considerable powers.The exact details of the session are sadly lost in time. The only facts we know for certain are the lineup, and that it was recorded at Ray Warleigh’s home studio in Hammersmith, London (hence the title). Although the quartet performed in London on a number of occasions in '79-'80 including at least two shows staged by the Jazz Centre Society at the Half Moon, until now it had been thought that they never recorded anything together. The tape this recording was taken from represents a tiny part of the huge audio archive kindly donated to Jazz In Britain by the legendary bassist Ron Mathewson. Look out for more exciting future volumes.
Book:
Ed Chang
Devil Take The Hindmost: The Otherworldly Music Of Allan Holdsworth
ISBN 978-1-9163206-1-1
U.S. customers can pre-order the book from Waysidemusic.com later this week.
Rest Of The World customers pre-order the book here:
https://jazzinbritain.org/…/devil-ta...the-ot…/
Devil Takes The Hindmost represents the first publication dedicated to the career of the British pioneering guitar virtuoso Allan Holdsworth. Jazz In Britain have adapted author Ed Chang’s celebrated website ‘A Thread of Lunacy - Appreciation and Analysis of the Otherworldly Music of Allan Holdsworth’ for the printed page, expanded and updated from the original blog, and featuring rarely seen pictures of Allan from throughout his illustrious life. The book charts the ups-and-downs of Holdsworth’s career, and leads the reader through every recording Allan is known to have made with extraordinary attention to detail. The book also offers an in-depth analysis of his gear down the years, as well as the most comprehensive discography yet assembled. Spanning 412 information-packed pages, it is an absolutely essential item for fans of Allan, British jazz, and guitar lovers worldwide.
Apologies to anyone who tried to order yesterday. We had e-commerce issues, now resolved. Many thanks for your patience.
Sebastiaan is working on a lager piece of work, called The Holdsworth Reinterpretations. It contains two titles right now. I wonder if this gets a limited CD-edition too.
https://sebastiaancornelissen.bandca...nterpretations
"Devil Take the Hindmost: The Otherworldly Music of Allan Holdsworth", by Ed Chang
U.S. Pre-Orders: [http://www.waysidemusic.com/…/Devil-...c5UhnHQEwOVJsQ)
Other Regions: [https://jazzinbritain.org/…/devil-ta...P0tQmNGBY8otU)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
https://vimeo.com/403438628
Frankfurt 1986 concert to be released via Manifesto Records in May.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Bookmarks