Born on August 6, 1948 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England; Allan Holdsworth- an electric guitar virtuoso, learned music from his father- Sam. He is also exalted for redefining the capabilities of the electric guitar.
As Allan has stated. "My music is too rock for jazz stations and too jazz for rock stations," he remains a little known, unsung hero.
In the early 70s, he began as a sideman merging rock's electric instrumentation with his mastery of improvisational jazz. Holdsworth worked with legendary bands such as: Soft Machine, Stanley Clarke, Tony William's New Lifetime, and Jean-Luc Ponty, Gong, Bill Bruford, Tempest, UK, and many more.
Most of his compositions on his albums today are less progressive and more jazz-oriented with plenty of improvisation. Holdsworth's melodic and precise style draws inspiration from his desire to become a saxophone player. His signature eclectic legato soloing is breathtaking. He has been know as the `master of the impossible chords' and the fastest guitarist in the West (and East). Some of his albums include an odd-looking guitarlike synthesizer controller called a Synth-axe- while utilizing it's breath controller, it made his guitar sound even more like a saxophone- hence his inspirations from the sounds of Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, and later John Coltrane.
Holdsworth began to get notoriety while in the short-lived mega-talented band- UK. 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. Drummer Bill 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's band, before Holdsworth felt trapped in the confines of slick studio mega-productions. He longed for a more immediate, live-oriented recording method... with greater use of improvisation.
`Velvet Darkness,' Holdsworth's first solo album was a problematic studio album. Allan wasn't full satisfied with the final product, but it was released anyway.
Holdsworth second effort (his `official solo debut), I.O.U., (with Gary Husband and Paul Carmichael), was recorded in 1979 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 in 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. Labels changed from Enigma, to Capitol), his current label , Restless.
`Atavachron' and `Sand,' rocketed Allan into greater use of the Synth-Axe and both are incredible works of contrasting tonality, beauty and technique. His fascination with the innovative guitar-like Synthaxe, 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.
With the 1990 release of `Secrets,' Holdsworth further revealed his rich musical vision `Wardenclyffe Tower,' (Allan's 7th `official' album), shows that Allan isn't afraid to further experiment with guitar-controlled synths, even baritone guitars.
Though line-ups have changed, Allan has constantly used the best musicians to recorded and tour. His live soloing is legendary and many a musician in the audience has shaken their heads in amazement over Holdworth's mastery of the solo (and how much beer he could drink during a gig without affecting him whatsoever). Long-time band mates like: drummer Chad Wackerman, (Frank Zappa), Kei Akagi: (keyboards), bassist Jimmy Johnson (Flimm and the BBs), drummer/keyboardist Gary Husband (Level 42), keyboardist Steve Hunt (Stanley Clarke) and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting), have toured extensively with him, as well as recording the REH instructional video in 1992.
In 1984, Holdsworth released a live concert on laser disk in Japan ("Tokyo Dream"-Yubinchokin Hall- Tokyo, Japan 5/14/84) with Paul Williams on vocals. 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. Guitar Player's editor, Tom Mulhern credited him as that rare sort of guitarist who "originated his own school" of guitar playing.
Around 1986, Holdsworth struggled financially and occasionally sold equipment to make ends meet
Allan appears on Gary Husbands' Instructional video- "Interplay and Improvisation on the Drums" by Gary Husband 1998
Allan currently tours with some of the best jazz-fusion musicians in the world and has a new album. `Allan Live at the Galaxy" a DVD concert will be available on video in December (it has been delayed). The show was filmed in April of 2000 and includes musicians: Dave Carpenter and Joel Taylor.
`Flat Tire-Music For A Non-Existent Movie,'' is Allan's latest album from Megazoidal Records. The release features Allan playing the Synthaxe almost exclusively throughout with Allan playing guitar on only the first track. The tracks grew out of Allan's very personal improvisations and are all instrumentals.
Bass player- Dave Carpenter, helps out on the album playing acoustic bass.
`All Night Wrong,' a live album was recorded at the Roppongi Pit Inn in Tokyo, this official live album was released in 2002- with long-time associates- Jimmy Johnson (bs), and Chad Wackerman on the kit. Available as an import.
Holdsworth has varied his music career, engineering and inventing electronic sound-processing tools, including The Harness. He has several unique electric guitar designs now produced by Carvin, and has worked with luthier DeLap in conceiving custom baritone and piccolo guitars.
In 2006, Allan with Alan Pasqua, Chad Wackerman, and Jimmy Haslip, have just finished recording a live DVD at Yoshi's nightclub in Oakland, CA. Featured songs on the recording include tunes from the new Tony Williams Lifetime days as well as additional new group material. The DVD should see light of day in early 2007 by Altitude Digital
As he currently writing a new album, Allan will support it with a lengthy tour of the Northeast United States in March 2007, with longtime musician-mates, bassist Jimmy Johnson and drummer Chad Wackerman.
The decade began positively with the release of The Sixteen Men of Tain in 2000, but it turned out to be Holdsworth's last album recorded at The Brewery. Immediately afterwards he abruptly slowed down his solo output due to events within his personal life. A pair of official live albums, All Night Wrong and Then!, were released in 2002 and 2003 respectively, along with a double compilation album, The Best of Allan Holdsworth: Against the Clock, in 2005.
His eleventh album, Flat Tire: Music for a Non-Existent Movie, was released in 2001. In a 2008 interview Holdsworth mentioned that a new studio album entitled Snakes and Ladders was slated for release in the same year through guitarist Steve Vai's Favored Nations label, but this did not happen. Further new material with Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Johnson was also said to be in the works. In a 2010 interview he claimed to have enough material for two albums, which he planned to begin recording after a show in Tel Aviv.
Throughout the latter half of the 2000s he extensively toured both North America and Europe, and played as a guest on albums by numerous artists. Notably, he was featured on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's 2004 album Mythology,[36] as well as with the latter's progressive metal supergroup Planet X, on their 2007 album Quantum.
In 2006 he performed with keyboardist Alan Pasqua, Wackerman and bassist Jimmy Haslip as part of a live tribute act in honour of the late Tony Williams, with whom Holdsworth and Pasqua had played in the mid-1970s; a DVD (Live at Yoshi's) and double album (Blues for Tony) of this tour were released in 2007 and 2009 respectively.Throughout 2008–10 he toured with drummers Terry Bozzio and Pat Mastelotto, and bassist Tony Levin as HoBoLeMa, a supergroup playing improvised experimental music. On 3 November 2011, Holdsworth performed in Mumbai as part of drummer Virgil Donati's touring band.[39] The following year, Holdsworth joined Chad Wackerman for a third time on a studio album by the latter, for Dreams Nightmares and Improvisations.
In 2015, Holdsworth launched a PledgeMusic venture to release new studio material, as part of a collection named Tales from the Vault. The album, his final release, appeared in July 2016.
Sadly, Holdsworth died on April 15, 2017 at his home in Vista, California, at the age of 70 of heart disease.
Discography:
1976: Velvet Darkness
1982: I.O.U.
1983: Road Games (EP)
1985: Metal Fatigue
1986: Atavachron
1987: Sand
1989: Secrets
1992: Wardenclyffe Tower
1993: Hard Hat Area
1996: None Too Soon
2000: The Sixteen Men of Tain
2001: Flat Tire: Music for a Non-Existent Movie
Live
1997: I.O.U. Live (unauthorised)
2002: All Night Wrong
2003: Then!
Collaborations
1980: Conversation Piece – Part 1 & 2, with Gordon Beck, Jeff Clyne and John Stevens
1980: The Things You See, with Gordon Beck
1988: With a Heart in My Song, with Gordon Beck
1990: Truth in Shredding, with Frank Gambale/The Mark Varney Project
1996: Heavy Machinery, with Jens Johansson and Anders Johansson
2009: Blues for Tony, with Alan Pasqua, Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Haslip (live double album)
Compilations
2005: The Best of Allan Holdsworth: Against the Clock
2017: Eidolon: The Allan Holdsworth Collection
2017: The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever! The Allan Holdsworth Album Collection (box set)
