Allan Holdsworth

At 70 years old, Allan Holdsworth has this physical status:

Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British guitarist and composer.

He released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played a variety of musical styles in a career spanning more than four decades, but is best known for his work in jazz fusion. Holdsworth was known for his advanced knowledge of music, through which he incorporated a vast array of complex chord progressions and intricate solos; the latter comprising myriad scale forms often derived from those such as the diminished, augmented, whole tone, chromatic and altered scales, among others, resulting in an unpredictable and "outside" sound.

His unique legato soloing technique stemmed from his original desire to play the saxophone.

Unable to afford one, he strove to use the guitar to create similarly smooth lines of notes.

He also became associated with playing an early form of guitar synthesizer called the SynthAxe, a company he endorsed in the 1980s. Holdsworth was cited as an influence by a host of rock, metal and jazz guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Greg Howe, Shawn Lane, Richie Kotzen, John Petrucci, Alex Lifeson, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Romeo, Ty Tabor, and Tom Morello.

Frank Zappa once lauded him as "one of the most interesting guys on guitar on the planet", while Robben Ford has said: "I think Allan Holdsworth is the John Coltrane of the guitar.

I don't think anyone can do as much with the guitar as Allan Holdsworth can."

Early life

Holdsworth was born in Bradford, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents, Sam and Elsie Holdsworth. Sam Holdsworth was a jazz pianist who had previously moved to London to pursue a career in music, but he eventually returned to Bradford. Holdsworth was given his first guitar at the age of 17 and received his initial music tuition from his grandfather. His professional career began when he joined the Glen South Band, which performed on the Mecca club circuit across Northern England.

Personal life

Holdsworth lived in California from the early 1980s. Cycling was one of his favourite pastimes. He was also a keen beer aficionado, with a particular fondness for Northern English cask ale. He experimented with brewing his own beer in the 1990s, and invented a specialised beer pump named The Fizzbuster, which, in his own words, creates "a beautiful creamy head."

Around 1986, Holdsworth struggled financially and occasionally sold equipment to make ends meet.

Holdsworth became a grandfather in December 2010, when his daughter Louise gave birth to a girl named Rori.

Holdsworth died on 15 April 2017 at his home in Vista, California, at the age of 70. Initially no cause of death was officially disclosed, however, news media later reported that he died of heart disease.

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Recording career

Holdsworth first appeared on 'Igginbottom's Wrench' in 1969, which was later reissued under the name of "Allan Holdsworth & Friends." He appeared in Sunship, an experimental band starring keyboardist Alan Gowen, future King Crimson percussionist Jamie Muir, and bassist Laurie Baker in 1971. They performed live, but no recorded information was ever released. Holdsworth appeared on the 1972 album Belladonna, as well as on Tempest's self-titled first studio album in 1973. His appearance on a live BBC Radio concert from 2005, which was also released as part of Under the Blossom: The Anthology, a Tempest compilation album most notable for the song "Gorgon" earlier this year. Holdsworth was the fuzztone solo on Donovan's 1968 hit "Hurdy Gurdy Man," according to a urban legend perpetuated in part by Donovan.

Holdsworth worked with numerous well-known progressive rock and jazz fusion musicians, including Soft Machine (Believe It and Million Dollar Legs), Pierre Moerlen's Gong (Gazeuse!, Expresso II and Time is the Key), and Jean-Luc Ponty (Enigmatic Ocean), during his time with drummer Tony Williams in the middle of the decade. When CTI Records released a recording of what Holdsworth believed to be a rehearsal session as a formal studio album, it became the first of many of Holdsworth's many frustrations with the music industry. Velvet Darkness was the first of Holdsworth's many frustrations with the music industry. Holdsworth, who said decades later that he still loathed the album deeply and wished it was never revealed publicly, was enraged.

Holdsworth was recruited by drummer and Yes founder Bill Bruford to perform on his debut album, Feels Good to Me (January 1978). Following Bruford's introduction, the British rock supergroup U.K. was formed by keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson and bassist John Wetton; Holdsworth was brought in on Bruford's recommendation. Despite getting along well with them personally and enjoying the recording of their 1978 self-titled album, Holdsworth claims he "mistested" his time with the company and that it was "miserable" as a result of numerous musical inconsistencies, while touring, including Jobson and Wetton's desire for Holdsworth to perform his solos in an organized way for each performance, which he vehemently opposed.

Although the United Kingdom continued to work with different artists, Bruford's main line-up of his solo band, Bruford, has been renamed Bruford, with Holdsworth retained as guitarist. Holdsworth's second album, One of a Kind, was released in 1979 and featured extensive Holdsworth contributions, but Holdsworth's return to the group was swift and abrupt, despite some reservations.

Holdsworth's first significant collaboration on the latter's Sunbird album in 1979 was with jazz pianist Gordon Beck. The Things You See in 1980 was the company's first collaborative effort, but without percussion or bass. Holdsworth joined drummer Gary Husband and bassist Paul Carmichael in a trio that became known as False Alarm soon after. This was Holdsworth's first outing as a bandleader, and the band's name was changed to I.O.U. after the acquisition of former Tempest singer Paul Williams. In 1982, the self-titled debut album was released in a free version by Enigma Records, followed by a mainstream reissue in 1985.

The I.O.U.'s was immediately after. Holdsworth was a subject of Warner Bros. Records executive Mo Ostin's attention at the time.'s publication. In a 1980 issue of Guitar Player magazine, Van Halen was previously enthused about Holdsworth. He's amazing; I love him; and Holdsworth is "the best, in my book." In addition, he said, in a 1981 interview for Guitar World magazine, "To me Allan Holdsworth is number one."

Road Games, an EP, was released in 1983 by Warner Bros. It was created by longtime Van Halen executive producer Ted Templeman and received a certificate for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1984 Grammy Awards. Despite this, Holdsworth disliked Road Games due to their artistic affinities with Templeman. Former Cream singer Jack Bruce sang of Road Games (Holdsworth and Bruce performed together with Billy Cobham, Didier Lockwood, and David Sancious under the name A Gathering of Minds at Montreux in 1982), but not the I.O.U.'s later iteration. Paul Williams, drummer Chad Wackerman (who, along with Husband, will be a regular Holdsworth bandmember for the next three decades) and bassist Jeff Berlin were among the band members.

Holdsworth has moved permanently to Southern California and acerbically parted ways with Warner Bros. In 1985, Holdsworth joined Enigma for the production of Metal Fatigue (along with the aforementioned I.O.U. Reissued. Jimmy Johnson, Flim & the BB's bassist, joined the band and, like Husband and Wackerman, remained a regular member of Holdsworth's touring bands until his death. Paul Williams, Holdsworth's last on vocals, appeared in his final appearance on vocals, with whom Holdsworth alleged to have been dissatisfied with Williams' selling live bootlegs.

The Atavachron album, released in 1986, was the first to feature Holdsworth's creation with a brand new device called the SynthAxe. This unusually built MIDI controller (different from a guitar synthesizer) would be a staple of Holdsworth's playing for the remainder of his career, during which he'll effectively become the instrument's public face. Sand, the upcoming fourth album from Sand, which featured no vocals and showcased further SynthAxe experimentation, will be released next year. With a Heart in My Song, Gordon Beck's second collaboration, followed in 1988.

Holdsworth created The Brewery in North County, San Diego, in the late 1980s, and it would become one of the main recording locations for all of his studio albums, beginning with Secrets in 1989 and later in the 1990s. He said in a 2005 interview that he no longer owned the studio following his divorce in 1999. Steven Hunt, who went on to play piano as a member of Holdsworth's touring band, and two more albums, was a mystery.

Frank Gambale, a fusion guitarist, came about in the form of Truth in Shredding, Mark Varney's ambitious collaborative project assembled by him on his Legato Records label in 1990. Holdsworth was recruited by the band in December of 1989 to appear as a guest musician at a string of concerts at London's Hammersmith Odeon. Ex I.O.U.'s former president, I.C.U., is among the former I.O.U.'s. Holdsworth's latest collaboration, Gary Husband, has been the drummer for Level 42, and the couple's work on their 1991 album, Guaranteed, saw him perform guitar. Holdsworth will appear on Chad Wackerman's first two studio albums, Forty Reasons (1991) and The View (1993).

Holdsworth's first solo album of the decade was 1992's Wardenclyffe Tower, which continued to feature the SynthAxe but also displayed his newfound interest in self-designed baritone guitars made by luthier Bill DeLap. Holdsworth's touring band for the 1994-19th century, as well as bassist Skli Sverrisson, was assembled for that and the following year. Heavy Machinery, a collection of brothers Anders and Jens Johansson produced an album with more hard-edged playing from Holdsworth than was normal. He was once more joined by Gordon Beck on None Too Soon, a collection of Holdsworth's most popular jazz standards, in the same year.

The decade began well with the introduction of The Sixteen Men of Tain in 2000, but Holdsworth's last album at The Brewery was a disappointment. He slowed his solo output owing to events in his personal life right away. All Night Wrong and Then!, two official live albums, were released in 2002 and 2003, as well as a double compilation collection titled The Best of Allan Holdsworth: Against the Clock in 2005.

Flat Tire: Music for a Non-Existent Movie was his eleventh album, which was released in 2001. Holdsworth said in an interview in 2008 that Snakes and Ladders was supposed to be released in the same year as a result of guitarist Steve Vay's Favored Nations brand, but that didn't happen. Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Johnson were both reported to be in possession of new material. In a 2010 interview, he said he had enough material for two albums, which he planned to record after a show in Tel Aviv.

He toured extensively both North America and Europe during the 2000s and appeared on numerous artists' albums. Notably, he appeared on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's 2004 album Mythology, as well as the latter's progressive metal supergroup Planet X on their 2007 album Quantum.

He performed with keyboardist Alan Pasqua, Wackerman, and bassist Jimmy Haslip as part of a live tribute act in honor of the late Tony Williams, with whom Holdsworth and Pasqua had performed 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. He performed with drummer Terry Bozzio and Pat Mastelotto, as well as bassist Tony Levin as HoBoLeMa, a supergroup performing experimental music from 2008-2010. Holdsworth performed in Mumbai on 3 November, 2011 as part of drummer Virgil Donati's touring band. Holdsworth appeared on Dreams Nightmares and Improvisations' third year in the following year.

As part of a series titled Tales from the Vault, Holdsworth launched a PledgeMusic venture in 2015 to showcase new studio work. The album was released in July 2016.

The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever box set by Manifesto records was released on April 7, 2017. The Allan Holdsworth Album Collection contains remastered copies of 12 of Allan's solo albums. These 12 albums also came in a vinyl box set titled "The Allan Holdsworth Solo Album Collection," marking the first time any of these albums have been released on vinyl. Manifesto also released "Eidolon," a 2-CD set of tracks selected by Holdsworth himself, at the same time. Holdsworth was able to sell these albums for a brief period of time after suffering from high blood pressure only a week later. He appeared at The Guardian on April 10, 2017, his last appearance in San Diego.

As of 2022, Manifesto Records has released six posthumous albums. All of these recordings are archived live recordings obtained from jazz festivals or state broadcasters. The first authorized release of the widely bootlegged "Tokyo Dream" laserdisc, which was released in 2018, is available in Japan 1984. Limited edition bonus DVD. "Warsaw Summer Jazz Days 98," which was released in 2019, includes a CD and DVD of a concert that was first seen on Polish television. "Frankfurt 86," a CD and DVD of Holdsworth's 1986 appearance at the Deutsches Jazz Festival, was released in 2020. In 2021, two separate concert recordings from Holdsworth's appearances at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival were released, the first from 1997 and the second from 2010. Holdsworth's appearance at the Jarasum International Jazz Festival in Korea in 2014 was broadcast.

Holdsworth appears on two tracks on German artist MSM Schmidt's 2017 album "Life," his most recent studio recordings to be released as of 2019. In 2019, Peter Lemer released the album "Jet Yellow" with Holdsworth on the track "Dognose." This album was actually released in 1977.

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