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Allan Holdsworth: Road Games
by John W. Patterson
Short but sweet . . . This 24:17 length re-release, never before on CD, 80's era solo effort originally appeared as an EP, (extended play), vinyl release. It is a unique mix of great vocals with a more rocking, bluesy jazzy, quasi-mainstream, song-themed, balladic thrust. This release showcases Holdsworth playing less “out there." Don't get me wrong — the guitar is amazing, multi-voiced, fusion-fired, ethereally chorded, delightfully crystalline-clear-note flourished, and swooningly embellished. Then add in the vocals of Jack Bruce ...
Continue ReadingAllan Holdsworth: FLATTire: Music For a Non-Existent Movie
by John W. Patterson
In order to adequately understand this review, I will try and very briefly explain what a SynthAxe is and does. Back in the 80's this instrument was invented. It looked like something that fell out of a UFO. It was guitar-like with sets of strings, and other onboard controls that allowed the triggering/(playing) of synthesizers. What was unique was that guitarists could therefore play a synthesizer without needing a great amount of keyboards expertise. The SynthAxe was the interface that ...
Continue ReadingAllan Holdsworth: FLATTire: Music For a Non-Existent Movie
by John W. Patterson
In order to adequately understand this review, I will try and very briefly explain what a SynthAxe is and does. Back in the 80's this instrument was invented. It looked like something that fell out of a UFO. It was guitar-like with sets of strings, and other onboard controls that allowed the triggering/(playing) of synthesizers. What was unique was that guitarists could therefore play a synthesizer without needing a great amount of keyboards expertise. The SynthAxe was the interface that ...
Continue ReadingAllan Holdsworth: Road Games
by AAJ Staff
Short but sweet . . . This 24:17 length re-release, never before on CD, 80's era solo effort originally appeared as an EP, (extended play), vinyl release. It is a unique mix of great vocals with a more rocking, bluesy jazzy, quasi-mainstream, song-themed, balladic thrust. This release showcases Holdsworth playing less “out there”. Don't get me wrong -- the guitar is amazing, multi-voiced, fusion-fired, ethereally chorded, delightfully crystalline-clear-note flourished, and swooningly embellished. Then add in the vocals of Jack Bruce ...
Continue ReadingAllan Holdsworth: Sixteen Men of Tain
by John W. Patterson
Allan Holdsworth's Sixteen Men of Tain is mellow, measured, and melancholy. This is that quiet woodlands walk at dusk or being alone at dawn in the mists of a forgotten moor, type of jazz wonderland. Holdsworth has stayed with his comfortable, even-handed “flow" and gently restrained ways as on None Too Soon and Secrets. His Synthaxe work appears again in several compositions with that Sand feel. The jazz rock, fired-up, effusive fusion is kept at bay but Holdsworth's incredible legato, ...
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