Holdsworth’s final years

[valve]

Tony Williams, Brand X, Tempest, UK, Bill Bruford, Jean Luc Ponty, Level 42, the Johansen Brothers, EVH, Mike Varney/Frank Gambale/Brett Garsed, Gordon Beck, Gary Husband, Jimmy Johnson, Chad Wackerman, Virgil Donati, Jeff Berlin, Eric Johnson, Shawn Lane, Guthrie Govan, Steve Vai, Vinnie Colautia, John McLaughlin, Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather, Scott Henderson, etc…I’m missing a bunch…all spoke of him as one of the best that ever lived.

but not one woman!!!
with all those names( i only now like 10% of them), that's why it must be something different than the "hack" theorie. Also that floppy hat song, sure wasn't created by a hack

i guess i just like music that sounds like it was created on this earth, i am not into science fiction either.

 

[mentoneman]

but not one woman!!!
with all those names( i only now like 10% of them), that's why it must be something different than the "hack" theorie. Also that floppy hat song, sure wasn't created by a hack

i guess i just like music that sounds like it was created on this earth, i am not into science fiction either.

no worries. Holdsworth music is definitely an acquired taste and some never bother with it, which i understand too.

 

[njshred]

I never understood the fascination with this guy, seemed like a cult. He wasn’t making any money when the record industry was profitable. It’s just too far out there for me, similar to Zappa.

 

[Techdeth]

i really appreciate the effort @Techdeth & @rsm, but yeah no. Not for me at all!
I don't like his phrasing, timing/rhythmic, choice of notes. even the word hate comes to mind.
He has a pretty clean technic of course, but somehow i think i would prefer if some notes would stand out more!
Maybe will try again in 10 years.

"floppy hat" is one of the few songs i didn't delete and actually like

For me I like it just because he’s original and I like to steal some licks . City Nights . That’s my fav

 

[Greazygeo]

i might try again in 10 years, but it's not like i am too slow to follow or something.
Well it's good to keep an open mind, but i never liked fusion and i am not in my 20's anymore, so it's highly unlikely

Jazz and fusion are like any other styles, like it or you don’t. There are styles I don’t care for. For a basic rock player with a rock vocabulary, jazz stuff can sound terrible.

Another example I can think of is going to GIT. The opening concert was Tribal Tech with Scott Henderson. They were all teachers at that time. They do pretty intense fusion stuff. I made it thru 20 minutes and had to leave, it was all I could take. 6 months later they played again. I had been working my butt off and listening to all sorts of music ( I was a basic rock player). This time I made it half way thru the show before I had to leave.
Holdsworth took a long time for me to start to get. I can’t play any of it, but love listening to it now.
Bebop jazz is another that is hard for me to listen to. At first it sounds like all the players are playing different songs. I can finally get alittle of it now. Can’t play it, but am starting to hear it.
To get into fusion there are other avenues that are more rock/ blues /funk etc based to check out that are not so far out and hard to listen.

 

[Greazygeo]

as a reference,
this is what perfect legato and beautiful phrasing sounds to my ears:

This guy is good. He plays very diatonically / ordinary on this. Not a bad thing, just is what it is, playing over one chord. Basic rock / shred vocabulary, not a bad thing just an observation.

 

[Greazygeo]

I never understood the fascination with this guy, seemed like a cult. He wasn’t making any money when the record industry was profitable. It’s just too far out there for me, similar to Zappa.

Zappa took me a long time to get as well. Love it now.