Allan Holdsworth - defend this. Now with added R.I.P.

[clive gash]

In the unlikely event that big Al isn't reading this can anyone else justify it?

Edit - Gorn

[zoomboogity]

Good grief - those keyboards! I almost started a poll thread the other day about which '70s keyboardist had the ickiest tones: Rick Wakeman or Joe Zawinul. (My vote went for Zawinul, as he had more imitators, including this guy.) Thankfully, some musical trends manage to fade away.

The music in this clip doesn't seem to have any point to it - just starts and ends without any purpose - that it was obviously composed and rehearsed makes it even more perplexing that this was their end result. Above all, music should be about emotion, and I hear nothing here - no joy, no anger, no catharsis, no anything. I guess this serves a purpose in a "See, kids, this is what NOT to do" way, but we've all heard enough of that by now.

[Hightea]

^ so how about this then?

[zoomboogity]

Well, this is a different story. This is the sort of thing that would sound really irritating with a standard electric band set-up, but the use of tablas in place of a drum kit makes all the difference. You can also hear how McLaughlin plays in "paragraphs" - not just endless noodling, but he reaches the end of each musical point, pauses, then starts the next one. No mushy keyboards, just the drone behind him, then the guitar doing subtle chords to support the violin solo. No question as to McLaughlin's ability to play fast, but there was the musicality to back it up.

The first time I heard Shakti was back in the '80s during a heat wave. The weather was so humid and oppressive that all I could do was lay there and wait for it to cool down. I turned on the radio, a local public station, and they played the entire sidelong track from Shakti's debut. That was when I understood why music like this could come out of India - the combination of slow drones and fast notes really makes time stretch if you're dealing with extreme heat. There is plenty of joy here, and not just in the title.

[clive gash]

Whoops.

[clive gash]

I come from a long line of headstock designers. Well, ex-headstock designers.

Thanks Al x

[Dicky Rokster]

Another one bites the dust

RIP Allan


I shall now listen to JLP's EO and enjoy his splendid fretwork.



.

[zoomboogity]

Ah man, that's sad. Doesn't change my view of that video, but I loved what he contributed to these:





And it needs to be said that what Eddie Van Halen did for him was totally cool and honorable, both on a musical and personal level. So many stars pay lip service to their heroes, but how many pick up the tab, fly their struggling "hero" out to California, and set him on the road to forging a career in the US which had eluded him somehow? I'd always heard it wasn't a loan, he just did it as an arts patron. I'm not much of a fan of Van Halen's music, and I'm sure there are people here who aren't major Holdsworth fans, but on a human level, that's as cool as it gets.

http://www.evhgear.com/news/2013/09/ask ... holdsworth

[Fonz]

This is grim news. Gutted. Very sad.
He seemed like a good bloke. Down to Earth Yorkshireman, but with a very different approach to music.

How about a PSL sometime. I propose 'Sand'.

[Muskrat]

Hometown (sort of) paper

Allan Holdsworth, one of the most innovative and influential electric guitarists of the past half century, was found dead Sunday at the age of 70 at his home in Vista. His most recent performance was April 10 at Ten Twenty Prime in San Marcos in northern San Diego County, where his dazzling six-string mastery was on ample display from start to finish.

Holdsworth’s death was announced Sunday on his Facebook page by his daughter, Louise...

No official cause of death has been disclosed.

In a Sunday afternoon email, Holdsworth’s publicist, Dan Perloff, told the Union-Tribune: “I talked to his daughter this morning and she told me that his roommate called her and her sister to tell them that Allan hadn’t come out of his room in a very long time.”

[Hightea]

Another one bites the dust

RIP Allan


I shall now listen to JLP's EO and enjoy his splendid fretwork.



.

RIP Holdsworth

Forgot to mention this one on Friday
Darryl Way and Holdsworth Gong



sad love Holdsworth since seeing him in UK in 78 also few times solo and with Softs.