i saw allan holdsworth tonight

[King Guitar]

LoIt's funny most of the white guys suck compared to black musicians in rock or jazz

Congratulations! You've won "The Most Ignorant Thing I've Ever Read On The Internet" award!

good lord. i hate it when people say that. music is a human thing. leave it be.

I Must say as a former combat Infantry US Marine, I find your running troll stick man very very scary.

 

[Badronald]

LoIt's funny most of the white guys suck compared to black musicians in rock or jazz

Congratulations! You've won "The Most Ignorant Thing I've Ever Read On The Internet" award!

good lord. i hate it when people say that. music is a human thing. leave it be.

Oh no. Didn't you get the memo? Everything is race based these days.

 

[Badronald]

LoIt's funny most of the white guys suck compared to black musicians in rock or jazz

Congratulations! You've won "The Most Ignorant Thing I've Ever Read On The Internet" award!

good lord. i hate it when people say that. music is a human thing. leave it be.

I Must say as a former combat Infantry US Marine, I find your running troll stick man very very scary.

It's kinda creeping me out a little too.

 

[rabies]

I ain't black. Most black dudes have better rhythm and feel, esp. in blues. Joe Satriani has some great songs, but sounds like he practices 23 hrs a day.

Anyways, I'm sure that David Gilmour is about as sick as it gets. I love that guy's tone and feel (and simple style).

Prince and Michael Jackson are/were sick as well.

But by far, Miles Davis was a true visionary and artist. By far my all time favorite (along with John Frusciante and Dean De Leo who aren't black!)

 

[TIBrent]

Holdsworth is the man, simple as that, whether you get it or not...he is better than 99% of the rest of the world. Plus, his tone is just, second to none.
-Brent

 

[Valtyr]

Regarding Holdsworth, I have no idea what the hell he is doing, but most of the time I like it.

 

[mentoneman]

i admit when i very first heard him it was way over my head
but i bought velvet darkness and then iou back in the early 80s and after listening over and over, it clicked.

 

[nighttrain69]

i thought metal fatigue was a good album, but to be honest most of his stuff i cant follow

 

[mboogman]

There's a fine line between going to the edge of falling apart but still holding it together, and being oblivious to the other musicians you're playing with.

I dig some Holdsworth, although I rarely listen to it. When I do, IOU and Hard Hat Area are my two faves of his. Most of the time, if I want horn inspired licks, I'll just toss in some Coltrane and be done with it.

 

[amiller]

I appreciate that Holdsworth is a force of nature...an amazing talent. But, I love GUITAR! I love GUITAR tones! I love GUITAR lines that sound like...GUITAR lines. If I want to listen to great HORN lines and tone I put a HORN player on.

As a side note, I compare and contrast Steve Vai and Joe Satriani in a similiar light. Steve Vai plays music that seems universal and could have been played on a varitety of different instruments...he just happened to pick guitar. Joe Satriani, to my ears, plays guitar music...music that just screams guitar and no other instrument. I love both ot these guys but see them in this differing light.

 

[Greazygeo]

there is no middle ground either you get his chordal harmony concepts and soloing or you don't.

he is soloing over a different chord change every bar which is the exact opposite of most metal guys

not only that but all of the chords are extended and complex.
he was zappa's fave guitar player.

i don't think it's even fair to put into the same category as tipton/downing /metal since they are worlds apart
it's real jazz and it's next level jazz at that.

i feel bad for anyone whose ears aren't open enough to enjoy it because it's special and unique,but i understand why and how it could be a turn off to some folks.

older allan may be more digestable for some

These are cool tunes. Holdsworth is awesome, but it took me alot of years to somewhat understand it. Didn't like it at first, love it now.

 

[Spaceboy]

I'm posting to say I love Holdsworth! I'll take him over nearly every other rock legend or virtuoso that gets praised around here... I don't know were all these Priest and Satriani mentions are coming from. That's whole 'nother ballgame and not comparable at all. Holdsworth doesn't go for the hooks, he goes for experimentation with unique phrasing and tones, and extreme note/scale choices over chord progressions that you rarely find in rock... it's jazz, dudes!

 

[Jerome Allen]

No doubt, he's awesome. He's part of my regular listening schedule. My only "complaint" about some of the jazz fusion guys is that they too often lack dynamics. It can get a little too smooth or redundant with too much focus on "outside" notes. Sometimes when I listen to tunes, I try to ignore the notes/pitches being played to see if the tune still holds up...is it still rhythmically interesting? dynamic? Does it go somewhere or just tread water? Does is move you? Some tunes do. Some don't. I have a great appreciation for guys like Holdsworth, Fripp, Belew, and Zappa because they push the limits of what we know and love about music. If it weren't for musicians like them, we'd still be stuck with the music found in most primitive cultures...intervals of a 5th and pentatonic scales <---disclaimer---> this is a reference to Jeppesen's Modal Counterpoint book. Seriously though, Holdsworth is just 1 flavor in music. After listening to him for 1/2 a day, I'm ready to crank up some Buckethead, SOD, or Nirvana, and vice versa. A man's got to have variety, right?

 

[mdc1mdc11]

good thing guys like this exist, otherwise I would cringe to hear a beatles catalog with songs all based on I IV V and pentatonics.

 

[Gainzilla]

I dont think that its a matter of the music being over ones head or someone being closed minded or whatever. Its really simple, it appeals to you and your likes or it doesnt. I "understand" a bit about the whole harmonic and chordal thing going on but its still isnt going to make me like something. When AH goes off into outerspace and gets seriously outside, I lose interest. Early Alan and UK is something that Im a huge fan of, he tends to embellish melodies, and thats what really appeals to my ears and what my personal tastes gravitate towards..

My mom is a serious gourmet chef and the woman HATES cilantro with a passion. I happen to love the stuff and could put it on practically anything. Its a matter of personal preference, understanding has nothing to do with it...

I do hate when the jazzholes come out and think that theyre somehow a better , more refined class of musician while touting the merits of guys like Holdsworth,Metheney, Henderson et al while talking smack about guys like Van Halen,Yngwie,Slash, Gilbert or any big name rock player as if it was somehow beneath them to even comment on them LOL....

Safe to say that the world is full of great guitar players, not all of them appeal to everyone because we're all individuals with different tastes and I for one say Amen to that...

 

[Atropos_Project]

Eh... I dig this sort of playing when it is used as connecting sections to other things, not when it's just a non-stop barrage of it. I can certainly admire and appreciate the talent and musical knowledge he possesses, but none of it sticks with me once the stop button is hit.

Sort of like Coltrane's Giant Steps... the part most folks know and remember is the least (on the surface) complex melody going on.

 

[alan67]

Love Holdsworth. Light years beyond anyone in my opinion.

Miles Davis was way beyond. Just check out Kind of Blue and Bitches Brew. It's funny most of the white guys suck compared to black musicians in rock or jazz (Miles, Coltrane, Living Colour dude, Jimi Hendrix to name a few)

I'd say that SRV was totally sick (as was Dimebag Darrell). couple of exceptions of course.

Vernon Reid...........Seriously?

 

[jcmlespaul]

Played his red charvel years ago been hooked ever since

 

[HerbieBoogie]

I dont think that its a matter of the music being over ones head or someone being closed minded or whatever. Its really simple, it appeals to you and your likes or it doesnt. I "understand" a bit about the whole harmonic and chordal thing going on but its still isnt going to make me like something. When AH goes off into outerspace and gets seriously outside, I lose interest. Early Alan and UK is something that Im a huge fan of, he tends to embellish melodies, and thats what really appeals to my ears and what my personal tastes gravitate towards..

My mom is a serious gourmet chef and the woman HATES cilantro with a passion. I happen to love the stuff and could put it on practically anything. Its a matter of personal preference, understanding has nothing to do with it...

I do hate when the jazzholes come out and think that theyre somehow a better , more refined class of musician while touting the merits of guys like Holdsworth,Metheney, Henderson et al while talking smack about guys like Van Halen,Yngwie,Slash, Gilbert or any big name rock player as if it was somehow beneath them to even comment on them LOL....

Safe to say that the world is full of great guitar players, not all of them appeal to everyone because we're all individuals with different tastes and I for one say Amen to that...

well put

 

[Anonymous]

I find this song from the Secrets CD to be one of his most beautiful moments: