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Atavachron Digest 5/94
Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Number 91
Wednesday, 4 May 1994
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
RE: Ozone Records
Re: Atavachron Digest Number 90
Re: Recommendations on Music- Phil Keaggy
A New
Re: Ozone Records
Mr. Holdsworth and Others Like Him
Re: Atavachron Digest Number 89
Guaranteed
Re: Recommendations on Music
The blue, blue grass of home
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Date: Fri, 29 Apr 94 08:48:40 -0400
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: RE: Ozone Records
>Seeing as how Ozone Records is looking into the possibility
>of putting out "Road Games" on CD [Yessssssss!], and is also
>planning on issuing a new Gong album with AH appearing on it,
>I figured I'd mention the other material they have to offer...
Any idea how one can contact Ozone to (1) voice support for the RG project and
(2) buy what's already available directly?
-Lynn (rardin@auriga.rose.brandeis.edu)
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Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 10:52:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Who cares if it works... it just has to SELL!"
Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 90
RE: UK
I can understand that Allen felt hemmed in, Jobson and Wetton were using way,
way too much starch. I still listen to it sometimes though. Kingsley Durant
mentioned the 30 years solo, which is great (the previous Jobson solo where he
shamelessly copies AH style is good too!). I think the end of mental medication
with multiple distorted symphonic overdubs (a la abingdon chasp) is fabulous.
Those two tunes are the only times I can think of that he did this (Brian May
is good at it too). It really shows off his harmonic talent. Then there is
Nevermore; I'm not really into 'guitar wars', but he completely hoses Jobson
when they trade fours (like Daryl Stuermer on Enigmatic Ocean). I suspect
Holdsworth is improvising throughout the album while Jobson is playing written
out shit. Has anybody else noticed that the 'trademark lick' in evidence on UK
and all over velvet darkness and the lifetime albums has completely disappeared
by the time of IOU? Impressive that he could just weed that out of his playing.
I taped part of the UK radio show, including forever until sunday. I have
probably lost it, but I'll check (is this considered piracy?). Agree with
reservations on the Of Queues and Cures nomination, christ, Greaves and Stewart
together, it ain't gonna suck, but it's tough to nail down just one. I think In
Praise of Learning predates 1975, but was Picchio Dal Pozzo making amazing
albums in this time frame? Hey, isn't the rotters club 1975?
-Tom O'Toole
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Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 10:08:48 -0500 (CDT)
From: "WDDOZIER@ANL.GOV, (708)252-5476"
Subject: Re: Recommendations on Music- Phil Keaggy
Phil has been recording for over 20 years. There is a faq on him
available on rec.music.christian. He is an excellent guitarist and one of my
favorites, but I wouldn't say that he has much in common with AH style-wise.
I recommend him highly, though. The faq, called something like the "Keaggy
Phile," comes in 3 parts and includes an extensive discography.
Bill
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From: pvallado@sdcc5.UCSD.EDU (Paolo Valladolid)
Subject: A New
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 94 9:37:22 PDT
Regarding the recent discussion of Steve Hunt:
Since he likes to play synth leads so much, he should consider
getting Yamaha's physical modeling synthesizer described below.
After hearing the VL1, I can no longer stand hearing synth solos
played on any other instrument (except maybe the Roland GR300 and
Minimoog). I've never heard a synthesizer capable of producing such
life-like variations in timbre; it really does sound almost "alive"
as an acoustic intrument.
Physical modeling attempts to create virtual instruments by using
mathematical formulae to simulate, for example, a column of air
flowing through a tube. In the case of the VL1's horn sounds, the
embouchure of the horn player, breath pressure applied to the
reed/mouthpiece, overblowing the reed/mouthpiece, breath noise,
characteristics of the horn player's lungs, trachea, and oral
cavity; and more parameters are taken into account in simulating the
instrument. No samples, preset waveforms, or oscillators are used.
I witnessed a demo of Yamaha's VL1 (the "L" standing for "Lead")
synthesizer today and I have to say for a while, I was very jealous
of keyboard players since only they can fully exploit its
capabilities (plugging a MIDI guitar or MIDI wind controller into
the VL1's MIDI IN would seem to be self-defeating). It's the first
synth I've heard of in a long time that will play out of tune if you
don't play it right. I'm serious. If you don't blow into the breath
controller hard enough, the synth will be slightly flat.
The sax and trumpet sounds were most impressive. The analog synth
sounds were also very impressive. To *really* play the VL1, you
*have* to use the breath controller, foot pedal, and all three
controller wheels because they *all* affect the sound in noticeable
ways. I, being a guitarist ;-), was not as impressed with the clean
guitar sounds, but the distorted ones were very convincing. Some
tidbits from the Yamaha guys: Korg licensed Yamaha's technology for
its physical modeling drum, which Yamaha's guys claim is even more
expensive than the VL1; Herbie Hancock is borrowing a demo model for
a concert tour; Chick Corea ordered one (even though he "swore off"
synths); the VP1 will focus on percussive (plucked, struck) sounds;
Yamaha's guys claim Yamaha will lend a VL1 to anyone who is willing
to develop new sounds for the VL1 (can be loaded from floppy). You
can fool with setting reed mouthpieces to drive strings or change
parameters like embouchure, breath pressure, etc., but you don't
have the same direct access to programming the sound models
themselves unless you are a developer
I hope people will use the VL1 to create original soloing voices
rather than try to imitate existing acoustic instruments (defeats the
purpose, doesn't it?). For example, a sax with a bell that has the
diameter of a radar dish ;-)
What this leads to is that the VL1 sounds like the dream lead
instrument for a keyboardist. As for me, I'm sticking to guitar,
which to me is a pretty good 6-voice polyphonic physically modeled
plucked string synthesizer ;-)
For the person who was looking for artist suggestions, I'd like to
add David Torn and John McLaughlin to the list of suggestions.
To Kingley Durant,
I saw the ad for guitars made by your friend Brian Moore. All it
showed was the headstock. It sure has a unique design. Looks pretty
too. If you ever get one, post a review or email it to me.
--
Paolo Valladolid
pvallado@sdcc5.ucsd.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Moderator of Digital Guitar Digest, an Internet newsletter |\
|dedicated to the discussion of music technology as applied to | |
|guitar and other stringed intruments. To subscribe, send email | |
----------------------------------------------------------------- |
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From: afcpeters@aol.com
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 94 15:44:25 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozone Records
On Tue, 26 Apr 94 17:19:47 EDT, Dave Lane wrote:
> For those of you who might not know, Brand X is a prog/fusion
> revolving roster of musicians that put out several albums from '76
> to '82 and reunited in '92.
>
> Their members include(d):
>
> guitar: John Goodsall [Fire Merchants]
> bass: Percy Jones, John Giblin [Fish, Simple Minds]
> drums: Phil Collins [Beer ads], Mike Clarke, Kenwood Dennard
> Keyboards: David Robinson [Phil Collins], Robin Lumley [Phil Collins]
> Percussion: Morris Pert [Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips]
Er, that's *Peter* Robinson, not David. Robinson had played in Quatermass, as
well as being in both Suntreader and Stomu Yamashta's band with Morris Pert.
(He played sessions, too.) Also, Chuck Burgi did a stint on drums in between
Dennard and Clarke. Their current (?) drummer is Frank Katz, who is a member
of Percy Jones' Tunnels, along with guitarist Van Manakas and mallet
percussionist Marc Wagnon (Dr. Nerve). Trivia fans know that Bill Bruford was
with them (on percussion) before they got signed/recorded, and it was while
he was in Brand X that he got the offer to join Genesis. He's also our link
back to Holdsworth. :)
Peter Stoller
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "ToddM"
Date: 29 Apr 1994 15:03:04CST6CDT
Subject: Mr. Holdsworth and Others Like Him
[ Moderator's note: I have reformatted Todd's text to fit the 80-column
standard. --JP ]
Just wanted to mention, as an aside that Fire Merchants have a second recording
out called "Landlords of Atlantis" on the tiny Rennaisance Records label. The
CD is over one hour long and John Goodsall's "billion notes a second" (as Ken
Golden calls it) guitar style is heavily in evidence here. The two discs I'm
listening to the most this spring is Holdsworth's "Hard Hat Area" and Fire
Merchants "Landlords of Atlantis". Goodsall really evokes the spirit of early
Mahavishnu on some pieces, check out "World's in Modulation" for instance, or
for a buildup of tension, try the last piece on the CD, a spirited nine minute
romp of constantly ascending chords, dark murky synthesizer (supplied by
goodsall's guitar) and Toss Pano's (Mike Keneally's "Hat", Marc Bonilla's
"American Matador") frenzied, over the edge drumming.
The pyromaniac image has not ceased here, the inner sleeve photos and back
booklet cover page show the guys rapidly stoking a wildfire. The jewel box
tray photo is a riot as well (large burning building falling into the ocean).
The cover painting is faintly disturbing as the original Fire Mechants CD
cover had a similar foreboding effect.
I definetely hear some Holdsworth-isms in some of the chord progressions here.
The majority of the pieces are composed by bassist Doug Lunn, although Goodsall
contributes four, barn-burning pieces. The title track has the only vocals
we'll probably ever hear on a Fire Merchants song (well, I'll give it a way -
the intro has a brief "army chant").
The sound quality is quite good (better than the first Fire Merchants disc to
be sure) and was produced by Kevin Gilbert of Giraffe and Toy Matinee fame.
Brand X fans take note: there is an electric, full-band version of the song
"Healing Dream" from Brand X's "XCommunications" (on Ozone Records) available
on this disc. Hearing the original in its sparse, arpegiatted beauty is a wild
contrast to the electric version. Goodsall must have the art of chordal
arpeggios refined to a high art by now - excellent stuff. They also do a
frantic, berserk remake of "Hamsterdam" from the first disc. The compositions
are better than the first disc (some of the tracks on the first tune seemed
excuses for frenzied jamming, but it's still good) and they even delve into
musical styles you might not expect (but it's still prog-fusion orientated).
BTW - I managed to pick up the Guitar Tribute to the Beatles with AH's take on
"Michelle" - WOW! I listened to that one over and over again. Really nice
playing by everyone and it's nice how a familiar tune can become something
else entirely (and still be GOOD) when it is done in the right hands. Gordon
Beck's keyboards are as great as ever, and Kirk Covington's (ex-Tribal Tech,
now currently on his Boat Gig) busy drumming in combination with Gary Willis'
(Tribal Tech) nimble bass lines make a very satisfying arrangement. I'd have
loved to hear this band play ALL the songs on the disc, but I know we can't
have everything. AH really shines on this piece. It's great to hear someone
who can play fast and still be musical and melodic. Very nice and jazzy "one
of the last but definetely not least" indeed.
-ToddM
LaserMaster Technical Support.
toddm@ramrod.lmt.mn.org
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Date: Sat, 30 Apr 1994 01:54:06 -0700
From: Mortal Kombatant
Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 89
Re: Holdsworth @ Hollywood
Date was April 23, 1994. Allan and his band (Skuli, Steve, and Gary)
were playing the Catalina Bar for the week, two shows per night. I went to
the late show with my friends on Saturday night. The earlier show seemed packed
but with the late show the house was barely half-full. Actually it took me
quite some time talking my friends into going to see Allan! Anyway the
important thing is that they came out from the show impressed, and that's all
that matters.
It's been a week already, so I might be a bit off with the set list.
In no order of performance, the band played: Funnels, Looking Glass, The Things
You See, Devil Takes the Hindmost, Proto Cosmos, Low Levels High Stakes,
House of Mirrors, a jam on Postlude, and most surprisingly, a track off
ROAD GAMES (I'll leave the title of it as a mystery... go find out when Allan's
band hits your town! :) )!
As with the last tour, Gary still kept on losing his sticks when he
got way into it. Halfway into the show, Gary ran out of sticks! :D Some of
the audience who got the lost sticks were nice enough to give them back to Gary.
It felt rather strange to see such a stylistic and good drummer still don't have
one of the basics down, hmm...
Steve really surprised me. I thought he was a "Holdsworth clone" like
most readers on Atavachron, but this time he took mostly lyrical approaches to
his solos and he even made a point of using different sounds to make his tone
more colorful. He was really having fun too, when the rest of the band was
taking solos he'd hop off the stage and sit down at a table, watching his
"chaps" play.
Skuli looked WAY different from almost two years ago. He cut his long
hair and it seems like he's more buff now. His command of the instrument also
seemed to improve quite a bit. However, his soloing is still not quite up
there with the rest of the band.
Allan... well, he was simply incredible. How can you be so fast and
still phrase with such fluidity?! The man deserves more than this! I talked
with Allan, and mentioned how it took me literally weeks before finally tracking
down a copy of HHA, and he was very apologetic about it, explaining how his
"record company" was not helping at all. I don't know if he should blame his
management as well... over a year ago, I saw him play at Santa Monica's
At My Place, which was a nice club. Then a couple month ago he was playing
at the infamous Roxy (of all places?!). And now he's gigging at Hollywood's
Catalina Bar, not one of the nicest areas in town. Natives of the L.A. area
can definitely see a downward progression in the quality of the place he gigs.
I really think this is the management's fault.
Eddie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 May 94 17:01:54 PDT
From: uk438@freenet.victoria.bc.ca (Graeme McIntryre)
Subject: Guaranteed
I just saw Level 42's "Guaranteed" in a local used store
and was wondering if people would recommend it. I also noticed
that Dominic Miller plays on it...... they're pretty well night and
day as players. It was ten bucks....... should I buy it?
--
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Graeme McIntyre @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ uk438@freenet.victoria.bc.ca @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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Date: Tue, 3 May 94 12:44:48 -0400
From: barrett@astro.cs.umass.edu (Daniel Barrett)
Subject: Re: Recommendations on Music
jerfo@student.umass.edu writes about other artists a Holdsworth fan might
enjoy:
>Try any album with Scott Henderson on it....
>You might also enjoy certain albums by Al DiMeola, John Schofield, Frank
>Gambale...and even Chick Corea's recent stuff.
I think this issue is an interesting one because, in my opinion,
different Holdsworth fans like Holdsworth's music for different reasons.
Some people admire his technique, some like his compositions, some like the
genre of jazz/fusion in general, some root for the struggling artist, etc.
In my case, it's a combination of Holdsworth's compositional
abilities and his inventive soloing and chord structures. I don't really
like the music of Scott Henderson and Frank Gambale. Sure, they can shred,
but their compositions turn me off. Corea and DiMeola are mixed bags for
me. I would recommend DiMeola's "Land of the Midnight Sun" though.
If you like Holdsworth for the same reasons I do (mainly
compositional), I recommend:
The Dixie Dregs, a.k.a. The Dregs
Gentle Giant
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Even though none of these bands plays music that sounds like Holdsworth's,
they all feature (in my opinion) truly outstanding composition combined
with really solid musicianship. Several of The Dregs' members have been
widely acknowledged in readers' polls as masters of their instruments,
particularly the guitarist, Steve Morse. The 5-6 members of Gentle Giant
play over 30 instruments in total, and in my opinion they were the best
progressive rock band from the 1970's. And the bassist for the Flecktones
is the most impressive live musician I have seen on *any* instrument in
*any* genre. (And they record most of their music live in the studio
without overdubs.) Catch The Dregs or The Flecktones live if you can, and
bring extra bandages for your jaw when it falls off and hits the floor in
awe.
As a starting album for each band, I would recommend:
Dregs: What If
(But any album will do.)
Gentle Giant: Octopus
(Actually, any album will do EXCEPT
"The Missing Piece", "Giant for a Day",
and "Civilian", which are more pop
influenced and don't make a good first
impression.)
Flecktones: (Any album. Make sure to get a Flecktones
album, not Bela Fleck's solo albums which
are bluegrass banjo.)
Happy listening, and please write to me if you try some of this music!
Dan
//////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
| Dan Barrett -- Dept of Computer Science, Lederle Graduate Research Center |
| University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 -- barrett@cs.umass.edu |
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////
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From: Jeff Preston
Subject: The blue, blue grass of home
Date: Wed, 4 May 94 2:50:57 EDT
Howdy, y'all...
I'm back in Kentucky now, and glad to be home, even if the yard looks
like a jungle and the riding mower *is* on the fritz. :) There's no
place like home, as Dorothy said.
I'll post something soon about the Tempe Experience; I'm just too tired
to type it all in at the moment. I'll just warn you folks ahead of time
to NOT let Mick Porter buy you beer if you plan on staying sober. :)
The man is a saint -- it was great to meet ya, Mick.
Anywhoo, here's the latest from Claire: Itinerary updates, and not all
good news. It would appear that New Zealand has been scratched for the
moment, but if you're in NZ, keep checking the local news sources, 'cause
Claire says these things are apt to change.
The changes? New George's in San Rafael, CA, originally cancelled a
few weeks back, is apparently back on for the 13th. Here are the rest
of the dates, including venues for Australia:
All dates are tentative; please call venues ahead of time to
confirm dates and for ticket information.
5/3-7 Tokyo, Japan The Pit Inn
5/11 Santa Cruz, CA Kuuwamba
5/12 San Francisco, CA Great American
5/13 San Rafael, CA New George's
5/17-19 Sydney, Australia The Basement
5/20 Melbourne, Australia Central Club
5/22 Sydney, Australia The Basement
5/24 Adelaide, Australia The Office
More to follow... I gotta rest. :)
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
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Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Number 92
Thursday, 5 May 1994
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
Atavachron Digest Number 91
Bruford,Brand X
Hoard Checks In -- Tour Notes, Etc.
AD 91
(none)
Re: Recommendations on Music
Tempe, AZ
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Atavachron Digest Number 91
From: gil.amarilio@execnet.com (Gil Amarilio)
Date: Wed, 4 May 94 07:56:00 -0500
Hello friends,
Ozone Records will import to the U.S Allan Holdsworth/Gordon Beck-"The
Things You See" and we will put the missing track on as well in a very
nice price.For more information please e-mail or call us at:
(718)-383-5195 or (516)-764-6200 and ask for Gil.
Regards,
Gil
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 94 08:43:49 EDT
From: David=Lane%HQ%Rational@Vines1.ratsys.com
Subject: Bruford,Brand X
Peter Stoller wrote:
[...]
>> guitar: John Goodsall [Fire Merchants]
>> bass: Percy Jones, John Giblin [Fish, Simple Minds]
>> drums: Phil Collins [Beer ads], Mike Clarke, Kenwood Dennard
>> Keyboards: David Robinson [Phil Collins], Robin Lumley [Phil Collins]
>> Percussion: Morris Pert [Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips]
>
>Er, that's *Peter* Robinson, not David. Robinson had played in Quatermass, as
Freudian slip, it's NBA playoff time.
>Trivia fans know that Bill Bruford was
>with them (on percussion) before they got signed/recorded, and it was while
>he was in Brand X that he got the offer to join Genesis. He's also our link
>back to Holdsworth. :)
I never heard that ... it would explain the various contributions by Brand X
members on Bruford's first solo album, though.
- -
Dave Lane davidl@ratsys.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: C_HOARD@BAX.compuserve.com
Date: 04 May 94 15:10:20 EDT
Subject: Hoard Checks In -- Tour Notes, Etc.
Hello Atavachronistas--I've been out of the mix for a while, and
now I suppose it's time to jump back in!
Had a chance to talk to fearless Preston after he saw the show in Tempe--
a far less coherent individual over the phone than one would gather,
given his "most excellent" efforts as our moderator. Actually--you can
blame it on me--I sent Mick Porter on a mission to inebriate him and
divulge all Atavachron industrial secrets--should I ever need them
for subversive purposes... Mr. Porter, by Preston's own admissions here,
succeeded brilliantly...
I was absolutely lambasted into ecstacy by the Sunday night first set
at Catalina's -- not the ideal venue to see AH, but with a minimal PA
AH seemed comfortable by the last night--and his playing went a level
beyond anything I'd witnessed prior--more on this to follow.
>RE: UK
>Nevermore; I'm not really into 'guitar wars', but he completely hoses Jobson
>when they trade fours (like Daryl Stuermer on Enigmatic Ocean). I suspect
>Holdsworth is improvising throughout the album while Jobson is playing
>written out shit.
Holdsworth hoses just about everybody, save Michael Brecker--if "hosing"
is the appropriate term--AH tends to use the verb: "to reem" and has
found something like 33 tenses with which to conjugate. Speaking of
verbs (in the feminine sense)--there was I'd say about 15-20% in the
audience at Catalinas--of all sizes & shapes. More than a few that
were worth conjugating in the literary sense... (Yes, Jeff, I'd better
stop, before they cart me off to PCU)...
>Regarding the recent discussion of Steve Hunt:
>Since he likes to play synth leads so much, he should consider
>getting Yamaha's physical modeling synthesizer described below.
>After hearing the VL1
Steve Hunt played brilliantly Sunday night--much better, IMO, than anything
he's done on record. His patches to me--are still largely either cheesy
or outdated--the one that sounds most like Jan Hammer's mini worked the
best--anyway--I appreciate Paulo's posts re: VL1. I can't help commenting
that anything that forces use of a breath-controller is too much trouble
for most of us dentists (i.e. AH's term for those who "polish the ivories").
I sympathize, it's always a losing prospect to try to keep up with synth
technology--unless one is independently wealthy. IMO, all you really
need for some great patches (as evidenced by Michael Brecker last year)
is an Akai s1000 coupled with a good analoggy synth--could be a
the top Roland (RD8000?) or Yamaha--a K2000 Kurzweil, or even an M1.
Any of those combinations coupled with a good rack-mount sampler can
creates a great range of interesting lead/chord sounds--Hunt sticks to
an M1 and DX7--he needs to upgrade his gear.
Btw, AH changed his set--and the "reinvestigated" version of "The Things
You See" (which really predates IOU by a couple of years--AH first sang
this tune on a low-budget duet project with Gordon Beck of the same name)
... found Hunt keeping me interested over the course of a 2 minute+ solo.
The arrangement was stunning and epic--another great reason for
a live album--AH has tentatively agreed to this, and thinks this is
the right time--we're making a little headway on financing--but it
sounds like now it will be recorded either on the East Coast or in
Europe later this year, if all goes according to our best intentions...
Gary Husband is recording some the Japanese and Australian shows on DAT,
and it's a possibility some of that material could get used for a
bonus, limited edition 2-disc set--something we're considering at this
point for you hardcore fanatics... "Things" was substituted for "Rukukah"
on the Sunday set--and "Postlude" was preceded by a 6-minute chordal
improv. by AH that was... unbelievable.
>From: Mortal Kombatant
>Re: Holdsworth @ Hollywood
> Steve really surprised me. I thought he was a "Holdsworth clone" like
most readers on Atavachron
Me too--as I said above, he was better than ever--and there was not much
"cloning" in evidence--other than his playing of AH's composed lines.
>Skuli... However, his soloing is still not quite up
>there with the rest of the band.
I disagree--by Sunday night he was cooking to the point that I've seen
no other bassist approach since the last time I saw Jaco. His comping
on Devil was eruptive and he and Husband established a rapport that
was genuinely frightenning at moments--his solos *were* a lot better that
night than the Tuesday opener. He's a lot more exciting and inventive
than *any* other bassist AH has played with--I'd argue--excepting perhaps
Jeff Berlin and Ralph Armstrong--both of which AH would work with again,
if somehow the opportunity arose. Skuli--like Hunt--had improved
(IMO) about 100%+ since the last AH U.S. tour.
>If you like Holdsworth for the same reasons I do (mainly
compositional), I recommend:
> The Dixie Dregs, a.k.a. The Dregs
> Gentle Giant
> Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
***Some of Hoard's recommendations...***
If you like the Allman Bros. at all--yes, you must check out the
Dregs--through I'm no where near as partial to the solo recordings of
Steve Morse as compared to AH or even John Scofield (I'd recommend
"Flat Out"). If the prog-rock virus has bit you--Gentle Giant is
the ultimate--"Glass House," and "Power and The Glory" and "Free Hand"
are three of the best rock albums ever made by anybody, IM humble O.
But don't pass up a chance to pick up the Happy The Man collection,
_Retrospective_ (on ESD)--an unbelievable *American* progressive group.
I'd also recommend Bill Frissell's "Where In The World?"--Frissell and AH
are my two favorite guitarists--BF and Scofield play together on the
title debut (ECM) of Bass Desires--also highly recommended.
Also from a jazz perspective--don't overlook the classic recordings
of Weather Report -- in particular _Black Market_, _8:30_, and
_Night Passage_--all spectacular--btw, AH is a big Zawinul fan as well.
Speaking of others (more obvious) AH would recommend--Pat Metheny--
_Still Life Talking_, _80/81_, and _Letter From Home_, are all *essential*
to my collection. Wayne Shorter's "Atlantis" is another of my favorites.
If you think UK is essential listening, than you can hardly do without
the finer albums from the King Crimson catalog--_Lark's Tongue_, _In The
Court_, _Lizard_, _Starless_, _Discipline_...
If I had all day, I'd come up with more...
All4NOW--cheers, and get ready for those of you about to catch
some dates. Yes it's very similar to the last tour--but I
wouldn't miss it!
Chris.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kingsley Durant Jr
Subject: AD 91
Date: Thu, 5 May 94 9:14:20 EDT
Some responses to responses in AD91:
RE: The Brian May harmony thing... AH also does this on "Night
Illusion" from Gong's _Expresso_, a.k.a. _Gazeuse_, and "Out
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Under"!Mortal
RE: Recommended listening. In the "electric guitar
non-traditional jazz" category, I like Wayne Krantz's new
record (_Long to be loose_) on ENJA. Doesn't sound at all like
AH, but it's incredibly fascinating guitar music featuring a
guitar - bass - drums trio with Lincoln Goines (b) & Zach
Danziger (d), two rather young NYC hotshots who were in Leni
Stern's band with Krantz. Wayne has *frightening* chops which
he wields in a totally non-aggressive, but most impressive
manner. The CD grows more astounding with each listening, and
I can't recommend it highly enough. If you like it, also seek
out Wayne's first CD, _Signals_ and Leni Stern's _Closer to the
Light_, _Secrets_ (nice title, eh?), all likewise on ENJA, and
Leni's _Ten Songs_, on Lipstick. Another disc not entirely
dissimilar to Krantz's, and also highly recommended, is Mick
Goodrick's _Biorhythms_ (CMP).
I also second Dan Barrett's Bela Fleck & the Flecktones rec
most emphatically, and by all means seek them out live. I'm a
bit disappointed that they lost their keyboard/harmonica
player, Howard Levy, but yeah, you've got to see Victor Wooten
to believe him. Very scary. And don't be put off by the fact
that Fleck plays banjo! BTW, I didn't see this mentioned, but
Victor's brother is the band's percussionist, and he triggers
everything from a Synth-axe. And they cover "Michelle" on
_Flight of the Cosmic Hippo_. How 'bout that, Holdsworth
fans... I second Gentle Giant and the Dregs, too; _Free Hand_
is another goodon't have the CD reference handy. (I have the
original vinyl of their first two lp's, _Crafty Hands_ and
_Happy the Man_, which were available on Arista Records in
those days.) And hey, Dan -- been to the Iron Horse lately?
Kingsley
--
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Kingsley Durant a.k.a. kd3e@uva386.schools.virginia.edu
1602 Townwood Court
Charlottesville, VA 22901
(804) 974-7108
"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not
everything that can be counted, counts."
--A. Einstein
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 05 May 1994 14:59:41 -0400
From: jerfo@student.umass.edu
Subject: Re: Recommendations on Music
> In my case, it's a combination of Holdsworth's compositional
>abilities and his inventive soloing and chord structures. I don't really
>like the music of Scott Henderson and Frank Gambale. Sure, they can shred,
>but their compositions turn me off. Corea and DiMeola are mixed bags for
>me. I would recommend DiMeola's "Land of the Midnight Sun" though.
That's odd...though I agree with your take on Gambale 100%, I don't
consider Henderson to be a "shredder". If you listen to his solos carefully,
you'll not that each note of his is hand picked, not part of a set pattern
(like Gambale's ninja arpeggiations)...the opposite of a "shredder", even if
he does happen to play some rapid lines. As for his compositions, I personally
enjoy them very much...it's just a judgement call here, I suppose!
Thanks for the feedback...
*Jerfo @UMass*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Tempe, AZ
Date: Thu, 5 May 94 18:33:54 EDT
> From: C_HOARD@BAX.compuserve.com
> Subject: Hoard Checks In -- Tour Notes, Etc.
> Had a chance to talk to fearless Preston after he saw the show in Tempe--
> a far less coherent individual over the phone than one would gather,
> given his "most excellent" efforts as our moderator. Actually--you can
> blame it on me--I sent Mick Porter on a mission to inebriate him and
> divulge all Atavachron industrial secrets--should I ever need them
> for subversive purposes... Mr. Porter, by Preston's own admissions here,
> succeeded brilliantly...
Yeah, wouldn't you know that on both occasions where I've spoken to
Chris on the phone, I've been well on my way to Slurryland (that is to
say, "a couple of beers short of a six-pack" -- that can be taken
literally or figuratively and remain accurate, either way!). :) Mick
would *not* allow me to buy a beer for myself all night, and with me
experiencing Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for the first time, this was a
dangerous (and moderately expensive) position in which to insert one's
self. :) Next time I meet up with Mick on his turf, I'm keeping my
beer muzzle firmly in place!
> Btw, AH changed his set--and the "reinvestigated" version of "The Things
> You See" (which really predates IOU by a couple of years--AH first sang
> this tune on a low-budget duet project with Gordon Beck of the same name)
> ... found Hunt keeping me interested over the course of a 2 minute+ solo.
Yeah, I was glad to hear this new arrangement, too; I agree that
Steve's soloing has become more... adventuresome? Less derivative?
Whatever the case may be, I was impressed at the overall tightness
of the band and the musical interoperability going on this time around.
These guys sound like a very solid band, and all seem secure with their
individual improvisational duties these days.
> >Skuli... However, his soloing is still not quite up
> >there with the rest of the band.
> I disagree--by Sunday night he was cooking to the point that I've seen
> no other bassist approach since the last time I saw Jaco. His comping
> on Devil was eruptive and he and Husband established a rapport that
> was genuinely frightenning at moments--his solos *were* a lot better that
> night than the Tuesday opener. He's a lot more exciting and inventive
> than *any* other bassist AH has played with--I'd argue--excepting perhaps
> Jeff Berlin and Ralph Armstrong--both of which AH would work with again,
> if somehow the opportunity arose. Skuli--like Hunt--had improved
> (IMO) about 100%+ since the last AH U.S. tour.
Yeah, I was truly shocked at the degree of subtlety and interaction
which Skuli was displaying in Tempe. There were a number of subtle
"parting shots" he would toss out there at the end of a measure which
caused me (as Mick can attest) to yell out loud... and this was even
before I'd finished that first *quart* -- man, what a monstrosity of
a MUG Gibson's uses! -- of SNPA. :)
To cover the set list, we were treated to the following tunes in
Tempe a week ago:
Looking Glass
Pud Wud
The Things You See
Funnels
Proto-Cosmos
Low Levels, High Stakes
Devil Take The Hindmost
House of Mirrors
Water On The Brain, Pt. II
"The Improv Section of The Program": Zone/Postlude/Material Real
Ruhkukah (encore)
Afterwards, Mick and I managed to evade the heavy security (heh) and
made our way backstage (with a young lady who was disbelieving of the
fact that I lived in Morehead, Kentucky) and up the back stairs to the
dressing room, where Allan was nervously winding down after the show.
He made mention of the fact that Gibson's had been known to them by
another name... they had played there before, and vowed never to return
because of the inadequate sound system (I think his complaint was with
the stage monitoring; out front, all was fine). There was a lot of
activity backstage, with people coming and going in all directions;
Gary was being photographed by a local photographer, for what appeared
to be product endorsement shots of some kind. Allan seemed to be
concentrating on gathering up the gear and getting the vans loaded
(they were travelling sans crew this time, and once the reality of my
surroundings sunk in, I went down to help with the load-out; after all,
having been put on the guest list -- a story in itself, but I'll let
Mick explain how I initially mistook him for Gibson's bouncer, come to
toss me out on my ear -- it was the least I could do). Since the band
had not eaten since lunchtime (and it was nearing 11 p.m.), we made plans
to meet up at Monte's, a steakhouse a couple of blocks away. But during
the load-out, along with the normal assortment of well-wishers and
autograph-seekers, Allan was beset by a rather insistent young man who,
among other things, wanted to make sure that Allan knew it was he who
had shouted "Expresso!!!" at every silent moment during the set
(*sigh*... Mick said at one point he overheard this fellow say to Allan,
"I think it would be in my psychological best interest if I could go to
Europe with you on your next tour..."; and you thought being a guitar
god was *easy*???). Anyway, just as Mick and I had about decided it was
time to tackle this cat and call the Thorazine squad, Allan slipped away.
As luck would have it, by the time Mick, Steve, Skuli, Gary and I walked
up to th restaurant, they were closing, and we never did find Allan
again. After walking back to the club (and being treated to Skuli's
Pakistani waiter impression), it was becoming obvious that hunger had
taken its toll on Gary's spirits... I think Mick and I had decided
without discussion that it was time to make ourselves scarce at this
point. So, we headed back to his hotel, spoke to Chris on the phone
for a few, and then fired up the Powerbook and put Atavachron #90
together -- Mick even distributed it.
Well, a good time was had by all, I must say... but with luck, the
"post-game show" will go a little smoother later in the year when Allan
and Co. make it to my neck of the woods. ;)
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I ========= End of Atavachron Digest =========
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: ::::::: ]] [[ ::::::: : Administrative requests to:
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''::]]]]]] ]] [[ [[[[[[::''
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/ :: ] ::: [ :: \ All opinions expressed herein are
I I those of the individual contributors.
Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Number 93
Thursday, 12 May 1994
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
Re: Atavachron Digest Number 92
Recommended Music Followup
Errata/AD 92
Gazeuse!
Bill Connors
Re: Gazeuse!
Mac Man
Re: Mac Man
5/11/94, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz
Any kiwis out there?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 06 May 1994 10:08:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Who cares if it works... it just has to SELL!"
Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 92
Speaking of Happy the Man, they were from this area (Northern VA really), and
kind of a big deal locally. I saw them several times at the Cellar Door in
Georgetown. Also saw Vision, the guitarist Stanley Whitaker's subsequent band,
they were a bit on the cheesy side, and pretty much flopped. I really like the
Kit Watkins solo album 'Labyrinth' that came out after happy the man broke up.
Don't know how hard it is to find, it has some remakes of a couple of the tunes
that showed up on 'Better Late', the third album. I think he is doing new-agey
stuff now, but I haven't heard anything he's done in the last five or more
years.
Tom O'Toole - ecf_stbo@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu - JHUVMS system programmer
Homewood Computing Facilities, Johns Hopkins University, Balto. Md. 21218
>Here comes a jet ski.
>weuh weeuhh weeuhh weeuhh WEEUHH WEEUHH WEEUHH WEEUHH weeuhh weeuhh weeuhh weuh
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 6 May 94 16:08:42 EDT
From: veatch@csid.gmeds.com (Jeff Veatch)
Subject: Recommended Music Followup
Tanx to all that replied to my request for recommendations on
music. Most replies were posted to Atavachron; however, i did
receive a number of replies direct. Because of this, i thought
it would be righteous to post a follow-up.
To avoid making this post overly long, i'm only going to post the
names of the bands/musicians and suggested releases. Many of the
comments included in the original replies were along the lines of,
"Well, he/she/they don't *sound* like AH, but he/she/they are
still very interesting..."
Again, tanx to you all. The owner of the CD store down the road
and the bank that i have my credit card through thank you as
well... :-)
Peace.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Bass Desires:
Bass Desires
Adrian Belew:
Desire Caught by the Tail
Lone Rhino
Larry Carlton:
John Clark:
Bill Conners:
Chick Corea:
Al DiMeola:
Land of the Midnight Sun
Scenario
Kiss my Axe
The Dixie Dregs:
What If
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones:
Bill Frissell:
Where in the World
Frank Gambale:
Gentle Giant:
Octopus
Glass House
Power and the Glory
Free Hand
Gong:
Gauzese
Mick Goodrick:
Biorhythms
Happy the Man:
Retrospective
Eric Johnson:
Ah Via Musicom
Stanley Jordon:
Stolen Moments
Phil Keaggy:
Underground
Steve Khan:
King Crimson:
Lark's Tongue
In the Court
Lizard
Starless
Discipline
Wayne Krantz:
Long to be Loose
Signals
John McLaughlin:
Pat Metheny:
Still Life Talking
80/81
Letter From Home
Steve Morse:
High Tension Wires
Southern Steel
Players:
Return to Forever:
John Scofield:
Flat Out
Wayne Shorter:
Atlantis
Leni Stern:
Closer to the Light
Secrets
David Torn:
Door X
Cloud About Mercury
Tribal Tech (Scott Henderson):
UK:
Kazume Wantanabe:
Pandora
The Spice of Life
Mobo Splash
Weather Report:
Black Market
8:30
Night Passage
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"I got poison ivy on the brain. The only way i
could scratch it was to think about sand paper." - Steven Wright
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
_ /|
Jef Veatch \'o.O'
=(___)=
veatch@csid.gmeds.com U
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kingsley Durant Jr
Subject: Errata/AD 92
Date: Sun, 8 May 94 8:59:25 EDT
Greetings y'all (gotta stop this y'all stuff B4 I move
north...):
Some errata (WP to UNIX transfer glitches, or our fearless
moderator messed up...) from my last posting:
#1: the Brian May/Overdubbed harmony thing should have also
included "Out from under" (_IOU_) and one cut on Gong's
_Expresso II_, the first one on side 2 ("Soli"). To add to
this thread, Happy the Man's Stanley Whitaker does a
self-harmonized solo on "I forgot to push it" from HTM's
_Crafty Hands_. Sort of an Allan Holdsworth meets Denny Dias
type of thing. It's one of those bits that's so good, all you
can do is laugh! (BTW for PRS fans - he was one of the first
PRS users) This is on the HTM retrospective which Hoard
referenced in his post.
#2: RE: Gentle Giant/Dregs/Happy the Man rec's: Dan Barrett
caught this one. I'll just reiterate here: For Gentle Giant,
also try _Free Hand_; my fave Dregs LP is probably _Dregs of
the Earth_, along with the aforementioned _What If_. HTM is
mentioned above; they're *highly* recommended listening.
Addendum to the ever-growing list: Mike Kenneally's _hat_.
Weird and potentially off-putting, but rewards listening
effort. Check out his '70's guitar article in Feb 94's Guitar
Player; he's a particular fan of Gentle Giant (do I sense a
groundswell here?!), and it comes through in his music. I just
got a letter from him in which he said that GP's editors are
encouraging him to do some interviews and #1 on his list is
GG's Gary Green. Cool!
RE: Al DiMeola, ladies and gentlemen. I kinda like _Scenario_,
a 1983 effort featuring Jan Hammer prominently (as well as
cameos by Phil Collins, Bill Bruford, & Tony Levin). DiMeola
played a PRS on this record and his tone is a little more
liquid and slippery than usual. (This is a compliment!) The
music is pretty much what you'd expect; it was done just before
Hammer got the Miami Vice gig, and in fact he seems to have
used a bunch of the ideas from this record in doing that show.
Kingsley
--
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Kingsley Durant a.k.a. kd3e@uva386.schools.virginia.edu
1602 Townwood Court
Charlottesville, VA 22901
(804) 974-7108
"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not
everything that can be counted, counts."
--A. Einstein
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 May 94 10:38:20 -0500
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Gazeuse!
Just got a pile of mail order discs from CDC; a few items of interest to the
list:
Finally got a copy of Gong's _Gazeuse!_ (a.k.a. _Expresso I_). I'd never
heard this disc before; great stuff! (Damn, now I've got to get _Expresso
II_!) But imagine my surprise halfway through the disc, when I hear...
"Velvet Darkness"! "Shadows Of" (track 5 in the liner notes, apparently track
4 on the actual disc) appears to be a reworked version of "Velvet Darkness";
has this been discussed here before? Given Allan's feelings about _Velvet
Darkness_ (the album), I guess it's not surprising that he felt free to reuse
some of the material...
Also got the Tony Williams Lifetime reissue, the one with _Believe It_ and
_Million Dollar Legs_. (Can you tell I'm trying to fill out my collection of
"older" Holdsworth?) Listening to this, it strikes me that Alan Pasqua's
keyboard work was a major contributor to the "feel" of _Velvet Darkness_.
Getting slightly farther afield: I also decided to pick up Bill Connors' _Step
It_, after seeing him mentioned here a few times. Several of the tracks on
this disc almost made me think I was listening to a collection of _I.O.U._
out-takes. Connors is blatantly imitating much of Allan's I.O.U.-era guitar
sound, as well as some of the compositional style. Anyone have his other disc
(_Double Up_)? What's it like?
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 May 94 12:29:02 -0400
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: Bill Connors
Mike asked about Connor's other recording, DOUBLE UP. Actually, Bill put out
3 recordings in the STEP IT vein: SI (1984), DU (86) and ASSEMBLER (87). I
own all of these and like SI the best. DU is my least favorite of the three
recordings, but I actually like them all fairly well. Dave Weckl only
appears on SI. Kim Plainfield plays drums on the other two. I'm not sure why
Evidence chose to put out SI and DU and not ASSEMBLER (I think they were all
released on CD on the Pathfinder label). Maybe they'll realease ASSEMBLER
eventually, too.
-Lynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 May 1994 17:30:39 -0400
From: jerfo@student.umass.edu
Subject: Re: Gazeuse!
>Getting slightly farther afield: I also decided to pick up Bill Connors' _Step
>It_, after seeing him mentioned here a few times. Several of the tracks on
>this disc almost made me think I was listening to a collection of _I.O.U._
>out-takes. Connors is blatantly imitating much of Allan's I.O.U.-era guitar
>sound, as well as some of the compositional style. Anyone have his other disc
>(_Double Up_)? What's it like?
Though I do like _Step It_, I must admit that it is very much a rip-
off of Holdsworth in both the soloing and compositional aspects of the album.
I enjoy many of the compositions themselves, and they are technically sound
from a musical standpoint...his soloing, on the other hand, leaves MUCH to be
desired: it's sloppy, arhythmical, uncreative at times, etc.
To give you an idea of how exactly he ripped AH off, give a listen to some
of his Return to Forever and other early 1970's work; he sounds just like
John McLaughlin! *Then* listen to _Step It_ and you'll see just how far he's
gone to copy AH.
Jerfo @ UMass Amherst
===============================================================================
We have no tag lines here.
===============================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: pvallado@sdcc5.UCSD.EDU (Paolo Valladolid)
Subject: Mac Man
Date: Thu, 12 May 94 1:17:59 PDT
I finally got my hands on a copy of _Sand_ and now I have a question
about a highly atypical Allan track, "Mac Man". John England is
credited with "Mac Computer" and Biff Vincent is credited with
"Octapad Bass". Anyone know what the story behind this track is?
What role did the computer have in the music? Did it just trigger
MIDI sequencers or did it play a more interactive role?
I also find it unusual that Allan was playing a distorted guitar
sound on his SynthAxe. The scary thing is, it sounded very close to
the real thing!
--
Paolo Valladolid
pvallado@sdcc5.ucsd.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Moderator of Digital Guitar Digest, an Internet newsletter |\
|dedicated to the discussion of music technology as applied to | |
|guitar and other stringed intruments. To subscribe, send email | |
----------------------------------------------------------------- |
\ \|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 May 1994 10:51:35 -0400
From: jerfo@student.umass.edu
Subject: Re: Mac Man
>I also find it unusual that Allan was playing a distorted guitar
>sound on his SynthAxe. The scary thing is, it sounded very close to
>the real thing!
Actually, upon close listening to the Mac Man solo, it actually sounds like
one of the patches that he'll typically use (i.e. a vaguely violin-like sound)
pumped through some light distortion. I have to agree, the first couple of
times I heard the solo I had no idea that it was the SynthAxe.
I find it quite odd that the bass was played on an Octopad, an instrument
usually reserved for triggering drum sounds and not melodic pitches...quite a
clever idea on Allan's part, I must say.
As for the Mac computer part, the "piano" itself sounds sequenced to me;
the Mac most likely controlled some sort of synth with a somewhat cheezy piano
patch on it...though miraculously it works on this song. It almost sounds like
a player piano going through an old roll of music at a tempo just slightly
faster than it was supposed to be played at...
*Jerfo* @ UMass
================================================================================
Tag
================================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: daedalus@netcom.com (Richard Farrar)
Subject: 5/11/94, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz
Date: Thu, 12 May 1994 13:05:13 -0700 (PDT)
Setlist for first set (didn't see second):
Rukukah
Things You See
Pud Wud
Low Levels, High Stakes
Looking Glass
Shallow Sea
Devil Take the Hindmost
House of Mirrors
Water on the Brain pt. 2
Drum solo
Allan chord solo (Prelude?)->
Steve and Allan improv (Postlude?)->
Group improv (Zone?)
Proto-cosmos
Encore: Funnels
Time: about 90 minutes
Allan's first comment was "Oh, the living room" in reference
to the intimacy of Kuumbwa, which only seats 150.
Then he apologized for "three days without playing and too many
beers".
I had never seen Gary play drums before last night. He is
an ANIMAL! (Literally: he played shirtless and is very furry).
But seriously, he plays with an intensity and abandon I have rarely
seen. He really brought life to the IOU songs which Chad (IMHO)
never really did. His drumming on "Looking Glass" alone was worth
the price of admission. In addition, he almost got Skuli with
a flying drumstick, missed Allan twice by a hair each time, and
clobbered his tom mike. He must have gone through about 10 sticks.
I saw splinters flying all over the stage.
Allan played great as usual, and Skuli is definitely getting better.
He played a couple of fills which were surprising and tasteful.
Steve played OK, but Gary and Allan pretty much drowned him out;
I could barely hear some of his solos.
The band did seem sort of loose for the first couple of songs, but
by LLHS, they were cookin'.
All in all, a great show. Don't miss it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Allan Blackman"
Date: 13 May 94 13:19:23 GMT+1200
Subject: Any kiwis out there?
To any other kiwi Atavachronists out there - has anyone heard
anything about the proposed NZ dates? The cheap airfares to Auckland
end on Sunday!
Cheers
Allan
**********************************************************************
Allan Blackman, Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin,
New Zealand. e-mail blackman@alkali.otago.ac.nz
**********************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
========= End of Atavachron Digest ========= I
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: :::::: ]] . [[ :::::: :
All opinions expressed herein are / :: ] ::: [ :: \
those of the individual contributors. I I
Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Number 94
Monday, 16 May 1994
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
A Few Holdsworth Questions
Re: A Few Holdsworth Questions
RE: A Few Holdsworth Questions
Re: A Few Holdsworth Questions
Gazeuse!
Bill Connors
Happy the Man
A gentle urging
Re: Atavachron Digest Number 93
Re: Bill Connors
Looking Glass
Major discography tweaks
Zoning In... and Out
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Paul Porcelli
Subject: A Few Holdsworth Questions
Date: Fri, 13 May 1994 09:51:38 +0100 (BST)
Has Alan played violin on any other albums than IOU?
Did he learn to play violin before or after guitar?
Are there any song titles other than Devil Take the Hindmost which have
a connection with cycling?
Was Alan's guitar in standard tuning on IOU and Metal Fatigue?
Did anyone else see Alan on TV (years ago) with UK on a BBC show called Rock
Goes to College?
Which year was it?
Is there somewhere i can get the music for the song "Home"?
I was reading a tab of the solo for In the Msytery yesterday and i noticed a
lot of two handed tapping in it. I've seen Alan twice in concert and the only
time he tapped was to emphasize a particular bass note. Does anyone else think
the solo was probably played without tapping?
Cheers for now.
--
Paul Porcelli
University of Glasgow
E-Mail: gnaa38@aero.gla.ac.uk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 May 94 10:26:10 -0500
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Re: A Few Holdsworth Questions
> From: Paul Porcelli
>
> Has Alan played violin on any other albums than IOU?
He's credited with violin in the liner notes to Gong's "Gazeuse!". There's
almost no violin on the album, though.
Another interesting point -- the liner notes also say that he appears
"courtesy of CTI records". Isn't CTI the outfit that was responsible for the
"Velvet Darkness" problems?
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 May 1994 10:42:25 -0500 (CDT)
From: "WDDOZIER@ANL.GOV, (708)252-5476"
Subject: RE: A Few Holdsworth Questions
As for the two-handed tapping, I don't recall seeing Allan do that in the
several times that I've seen him play. He does, however, make incredibly wide
reaches (like whole-tone scales played 4 notes to the string) that someone may
assume that he's doing with his right hand since few players can make the
stretches that Allan does.
Maybe someone else knows differently.
On a related note, I have a good friend in Mesa, AZ that is the biggest AH fan
in the world. Before my friend Ron had seen AH play, he assumed from what he
had heard from the UK, Bruford, etc. albums that AH used the whammy bar all the
time. So Ron learned not only how to play the AH solos, but the whole AH style,
using the tremelo bar constantly. Then he got to see him during the IOU tour
(I have some interesting stories about that weekend) and saw that he seldom
used the whammy at all. Ron is such a great player that he then relearned the
whole AH style without using the whammy. Anyway, I wrote this to point out that
people can make all kinds of assumptions about AH's playing until they see him.
Later,
Bill
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 May 94 10:40:35 -0500
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Re: A Few Holdsworth Questions
> From: Paul Porcelli
>
> Has Alan played violin on any other albums than IOU?
Missed one in my previous reply to this same question. There's also some
violin on the "Velvet Darkness" album.
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 May 1994 11:19:55 -0700
From: Hugh Njemanze
Subject: Gazeuse!
Mike Uchima writes:
>
> Getting slightly farther afield: I also decided to pick up Bill Connors' _Step
> It_, after seeing him mentioned here a few times. Several of the tracks on
> this disc almost made me think I was listening to a collection of _I.O.U._
> out-takes. Connors is blatantly imitating much of Allan's I.O.U.-era guitar
> sound, as well as some of the compositional style. Anyone have his other disc
> (_Double Up_)? What's it like?
>
> -- Mike Uchima
> -- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
>
I agree that Step It is very much in the style of early I.O.U., although I
think the album stands on it's own merit, especially when you take into
account Dave Weckl(drums) and Tom Kennedy's (bass) awesome contribution to
that recording. There were actually two follow-ups (Double Up and Assembler),
but Weckl was no longer with the group, a big loss in my opinion. I would
consider Step It the best of the three from a compositional and soloing
standpoint also. It's certainly worth evaluating the other two for yourself.
The title song on Assembler I think sounds more like an IOU outtake than
any other song on the three albums. (I think it was the last tune on side one
of the vinyl version).
I don't know if the following have been mentioned before, but as far as
recordings with more or less Holdsworth inspired (shall we say) guitarists,
here are some of the ones in my collection:
First Light - How the land lies (English group, very nice stuff)
Software - Marbles (from Champaign, Illinois I think)
Windows - (their first two or three albums - from LA I'm pretty sure)
(more details if this stuff hasn't already been worn out before)
By the way, I caught Allans show at the Kuumbwa in Santa Cruz last night,
as usual he did not dissapoint, although he was apologizing afterwards (also
typical). I think I may have to run up to San Fransisco tonight and catch
them again...
Cheers, Hugh
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 May 1994 15:57:58 -0700
From: Malcolm Humes
Subject: Bill Connors
Mike U:
> Connors is blatantly imitating much of Allan's I.O.U.-era guitar
> sound, as well as some of the compositional style. Anyone have his other disc
> (_Double Up_)? What's it like?
I think that's a bit harsh, as Connors has been around doing his own thing
solo for years - he played Penn State when I was there in 1980 or so, and
his early work with Return To Forever was I think pre-Dimeola and is argued
by some to be some of the best Return To Forever music. So the guy has been
recording for probably as long or longer than Holdsworth. I'd say he plays
in a very similar style, but that doesn't imply to me that he's ripping
Holdsworth off.
I have:
BILL CONNORS
(LP) OF MIST AND MELTING 1979
I think on ECM, and I'd recommend it. I don't recall it being quite
as Holdsworzy as DOUBLE UP. Double Up on first listen to me was at
least as interesting as recent HAH I've heard (I'll admit I haven't
kept up to the last few releases but I saw AH a year or so ago.)
I found two Connors tapes as $.50 cutouts so you might browse the bargain
bins...
- Malcolm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "ToddM"
Date: 13 May 1994 18:41:18CST6CDT
Subject: Happy the Man
[ Moderator's note: I have reformatted Todd's text to 80 columns. --JP ]
Just wanted to let you all know that Cuneiform records will be releasing soon
(if not right now) an unreleased Happy the Man concert. Also, Stanley
Whitaker has shelved Vision and has contacted Kit and is now back in Happy
the Man. The personnel is the same as on "Better Late". The new record (as
far as I understand it) is a "ADAT via U.S. Mail" production.
Coco Roussel and Frank Wyatt and the gang are back in business. No other
new news. I heard this via the Gibraltar digest several months back.
(I hope its true!)
-ToddM
LaserMaster Technical Support.
toddm@ramrod.lmt.mn.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: A gentle urging
Date: Fri, 13 May 94 23:36:02 EDT
I really do NOT want to discourage anyone from posting, but I'd
like to ask everyone to please try to put at least *some* Holdsworth
content into each posting for Atavachron.
At *least* a tangent, okay?
Believe me, I like to listen to (and discuss) other artists too. But
there are better, wider-scoped forums for them.
Thanks,
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 May 1994 00:31:54 -0500 (CDT)
From: ST40V@Jetson.UH.EDU
Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 93
How do I get A copy of ROAD GAMES on CD?
Have any of you drummers out there transcribed any Holdsworth?
Thank you,
Mark.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 May 94 09:45:47 -0500
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Re: Bill Connors
> From: Malcolm Humes
>
> > Connors is blatantly imitating much of Allan's I.O.U.-era guitar
> > sound, as well as some of the compositional style.
>
> I think that's a bit harsh, as Connors has been around doing his own thing
> solo for years - he played Penn State when I was there in 1980 or so, and
> his early work with Return To Forever was I think pre-Dimeola and is argued
> by some to be some of the best Return To Forever music. So the guy has been
> recording for probably as long or longer than Holdsworth. I'd say he plays
> in a very similar style, but that doesn't imply to me that he's ripping
> Holdsworth off.
Hmm... maybe that did come off a bit harsh. I guess I should have added that
I do like _Step It_ (quite a bit, actually). But I *still* claim that some of
it sounds like out-takes from _I.O.U._ (but, hey -- out-takes from _I.O.U._
wouldn't be a bad thing, would they?) Intentional or not, the similarity *is*
there, IMO.
(Hey, Jeff -- is that enough of a tangent? :))
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 May 94 01:21:42 PDT
From: uk438@freenet.victoria.bc.ca (Graeme McIntryre)
Subject: Looking Glass
I've recently started transcribing the solo in "Looking Glass"
from ATAVACHRON. Most of this is not too difficult, but I'm having
troble with a few particularly quick passages which are hard to
discern - even at half speed. I've been thinking about slowing it
further with the pitch control and then transposing up. Being the
lazy person that I am, I was wondering if any list member has a copy
of the solo transcribed. Is it transcribed in either of the books?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Major discography tweaks
Date: Mon, 16 May 94 11:25:30 EDT
I've just archived the latest, greatest version of the Atavachron
discography, as a prelude to the version which will reside on our
upcoming World Wide Web server (oh, it *will* be good, I promise
you). This version, though not complete, has musician credits and
track information for most of the entries.
Updates and corrections ARE ENCOURAGED. Thanks. :)
To get your copy, send e-mail to listserv@msuacad.morehead-st.edu
with this as the sole text of your message:
get atavachron discog
Get 'em while they're hot.
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: C_HOARD@BAX.compuserve.com
Date: 16 May 94 12:19:49 EDT
Subject: Zoning In... and Out
Yo Atavachonimals...
Nothing beats coming into work when your phone isn't ringing, having a
nice hot cup of Good Earth herb tea, and kicking back and reading
the latest issue of Atavachron... And it's a Friday morning to boot...
>Speaking of Happy the Man, they were from this area (Northern VA really), and
>kind of a big deal locally. I saw them several times at the Cellar Door in
I think I've got Watkins home phone somewhere--I should look him up and
see what he's up to... A piece of Hoard trivia--I told Andy Latimer
(Camel) about Happy The Man when they played in LA--they told me they
were looking for a keyboardist--they'd never heard of HTM--next year
I saw a Camel album come out--Watkins was the keyboardist!
Actually one of my dream prog-rock bands would be to team up Kit Watkins
and AH--Watkins on mini-moog I thought was every bit the equal of Jan
Hammer... Just add Tony Williams or John Marshall on drums--and say
(something different here)--maybe Tony Levin or Percy Jones even
Marcus Miller... Other dream AH keyboardist: Sancious.
Actually now that I'm at it--drummers I'd most like to hear AH play with:
Jon Christensen, Jeff Watts -- sax: Brecker, Joshua Redman, Branford --
guitarists: Bill Frissell or Metheny... OK, OK -- enough wanking already.
Holdworth Trivia: Did anybody know AH actually turned down joining Miles'
band? He got the call after Scofield left--but AH had a major tour set-up
for Sand, and probably would have accepted if the timing hadn't been bad
for him...
Midi Freak's Confession: Mac Man is one of my favorite tracks--John England
is a friend of AH's into Mac programming and MIDI--and AH heard a track
he did driving a MIDI piano patch--and they decided to collaborate--Biff
Vincent--AH's friend and owner of Front Page in Costa Mesa occasionally
works on his own demo stuff, and was also involved in the collaboration.
England wrote the opening hyper-piano sequence which served as the
book ends to AH's solo--I believe AH wrote the changes he solos over
in the solo section. It's a more radical fuzz-violin sound that AH uses
(typically) on the synthaxe--probably too much like a guitar for AH to
use as frequently as he did breath-controlled, "windy" synth sounds.
The "Bradford Executive" track is another interesting tale--a lengthy
imrprov between AH and CW which was recorded live in the studio--a first
take situation. AH named the track for the high speed train he used
to catch from London back to his hometown--he once said he did this just to\
have a decent pint rather than the predominant the piss they used to serve
up in London... He wasn't happy at all with the tone he got in his
solo--and decided to erase the whole thing and do it over--if you notice
the last several notes of the solo--hit dead on with CW's drumming--
I sort of forbid him from erasing that the track--it was one of those
situations where they had been wailing in the stratosphere for 4-5
minutes, and right at the end they were psychically locked in--but if
you listen carefully--the last few notes--you'll here a different tone
that was from the original completely spontaneous jam...
Kings observes: >#2: RE: Gentle Giant/Dregs/Happy the Man rec's
: Dan Barrett caught this one. I'll just reiterate here: For
Gentle Giant also try _Free Hand_...
Okay--another self-plug: I co-designed the cover of a new live CD
(out on Terrapin this month, I think) called "Our Last Time"--which
features GG's last tour. The soundboard recording isn't as good as
_Playing The Fool_--a double live recording from their _Interview_/
_Free Hand_ period (also highly recommended)--but it's GG at
a different phase--and the show (which I photographed)-was phenomenal.
The GG Newsletter which is quite good is called "Proclamation" --
issued quarterly for $15.00 and distributed in the U.S. by
David Armas 3730 Stockbridge Ave. Los Angeles CA 90032. The upcoming
issue features several interviews with Gary Green (now living in
the Chicago area)... Kerry Minnear is attempting to reform a version
of the band, from what I gather--I'm eagerly awaiting more developments
on that subject.
Mike writes: >Getting slightly farther afield: I also decided to pick up
>Bill Connors' _Step It_...
I have _Assembler_-- one of most studied "rip offs" I've ever heard--
yet not without some nice compositional ideas--and the soloing often
is less than impressive. When AH heard about this, he refused to
even listen to the record when I offered to play it to him, having
heard a lot of fans complain about it "Don't man," he said "it'll just
make me sad--Bill Conners? That's unbelievable--he *was* somebody!"
AH was a big fan of early RTF with Bill Connors...
Rich Farrar's set list--wow. AH has been shuffling it up a bit.
He didn't play Shallow Sea at all in LA (to my knowledge).
I think he opened all ten sets at Catalina's with "Looking Glass."
Gary never ceases to amaze me--I've seen every AH tour since UK--
and he's improved and matured (an basically just become more insane
than ever) since the first U.S. IOU tour--what's most amazing about him
to me is how he can be churning up the percussive tempest--and seemingly
has completely lost the beat--then WHAP! Husband and Skuli nail it
to the wall! I was particularly impressed with a long solo Hunt
played on "The Things You See"--but I still long to hear AH in
a setting again where he's trading fours with another world class
soloist! all4now...
--Hoardman
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I ========= End of Atavachron Digest =========
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I I those of the individual contributors.
Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Number 95
Friday, 20 May 1994
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
Re: Atavachron Digest Number 94
_Just For The Curious_: First Impressions
just for the curious booklet
Re: A Few Questions
Holdsworth's Legato Techniques
1st Sydney review- brief comment
Paz's LIVE IN PEACE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: pvallado@sdcc5.UCSD.EDU (Paolo Valladolid)
Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 94
Date: Mon, 16 May 94 12:08:11 PDT
> As for the two-handed tapping, I don't recall seeing Allan do that in the
> several times that I've seen him play. He does, however, make incredibly wide
> reaches (like whole-tone scales played 4 notes to the string) that someone may
> assume that he's doing with his right hand since few players can make the
> stretches that Allan does.
When I saw Allan play there was a collective gasp from the audience
when at one point in his solo, he hammered-on a four-note arpeggio on one
string *with just his left hand*.
> people can make all kinds of assumptions about AH's playing until they see him.
In one of the older digests, Allan was quoted as saying that he
couldn't sweep pick to save his life (in response to a question
about how he played that monster arpeggiated riff at the beginning
of the "City Lights" solo in _Secrets_). When I saw him live, he was
sweeping all over the neck. I didn't see him use two handed tapping
live although he says he'll do it infrequently for the extra odd
note or two. He pursued Chapman Stick (an instrument played by two
handed tapping) for a while.
> Actually one of my dream prog-rock bands would be to team up Kit Watkins
> and AH--Watkins on mini-moog I thought was every bit the equal of Jan
> Hammer... Just add Tony Williams or John Marshall on drums--and say
> (something different here)--maybe Tony Levin or Percy Jones even
> Marcus Miller... Other dream AH keyboardist: Sancious.
>
> Actually now that I'm at it--drummers I'd most like to hear AH play with:
> Jon Christensen, Jeff Watts -- sax: Brecker, Joshua Redman, Branford --
> guitarists: Bill Frissell or Metheny... OK, OK -- enough wanking already.
I always find these kind of discussions to be fun. I've been guilty
of such indulgence myself ;-) I'd love to hear Allan play with
Trilok Gurtu myself. AH with Sancious would definitely be a treat;
Sancious, being a sax player and guitarist as well as a keyboardist,
has both chops and taste. When I saw him play "Purple Haze" with
Sting as a guitarist, he dusted full-time guitarist Dominic Miller.
John Scofield, according to his own article in _Guitar Extra_
magazine, has been in a dual-guitarists mood; he's been playing in
guitar duos with BB King, Bill Frisell, Vernon Reid and Pat Metheny.
If he can get over his professional jealousy of Allan :-), a
collaboration with AH would be nice.
> Holdworth Trivia: Did anybody know AH actually turned down joining Miles'
> band? He got the call after Scofield left--but AH had a major tour set-up
> for Sand, and probably would have accepted if the timing hadn't been bad
> for him...
That's news to me! AH wasn't mentioned in _Miles:the Autobiography_.
Maybe the appropriate text was edited out, something like:
"I kept hearing about an English guitarist named Allan Holdsworth
and how he could play like a motherfucker. I wanted him to be in my
band, but he was busy..."
> Midi Freak's Confession: Mac Man is one of my favorite tracks--John England
> is a friend of AH's into Mac programming and MIDI--and AH heard a track
> he did driving a MIDI piano patch--and they decided to collaborate--Biff
> Vincent--AH's friend and owner of Front Page in Costa Mesa occasionally
> works on his own demo stuff, and was also involved in the collaboration.
> England wrote the opening hyper-piano sequence which served as the
> book ends to AH's solo--I believe AH wrote the changes he solos over
> in the solo section. It's a more radical fuzz-violin sound that AH uses
> (typically) on the synthaxe--probably too much like a guitar for AH to
> use as frequently as he did breath-controlled, "windy" synth sounds.
So I guess there was no interaction between Allan's playing and the
Mac. I've been using Opcode Max to write an interactive music
program wherein I play something on my Roland GR700 MIDI guitar and the
computer puts out this joyful noise in response. So I thought
similarly, the Mac in Mac Man was listening to the MIDI output of
Allan's SynthAxe and outputing the piano sound in such a manner as
influenced by Allan's playing.
--
Paolo Valladolid
pvallado@sdcc5.ucsd.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Moderator of Digital Guitar Digest, an Internet newsletter |\
|dedicated to the discussion of music technology as applied to | |
|guitar and other stringed intruments. To subscribe, send email | |
----------------------------------------------------------------- |
\ \|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 May 1994 17:04:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: ALAFOSSE@macalstr.edu
Subject: _Just For The Curious_: First Impressions
I recently recieved a copy of the new Holdsworth transcription book _Just For
The Curious_ via Musician's Friend (cost came to about $29.00 with shipping).
This is basically last year's REH video in a book format. I was a bit
surprised at just how derivative of the video the whole book --and accompanying
CD -- is; given the comments I had heard regarding Holdsworth's apparent
dissatisfaction with the video, and his desire to clarify certain elements of
it through _JFTC_, I had expected something substantially different.
As it is, many of the transcriptions and musical examples are taken directly
out of the REH video packet. The CD is culled completely from the soundtrack
of said tape (and the sound quality leaves something to be desired, IMO). The
only new elements which are not present in the original video are explanations
and charts for, if I recall correctly, three or four more scales than were
included in the video (although, as such, they have no corresponding audio
examples on the CD). Additionally, there are complete guitar transcriptions of
five of the tunes from the video -- "Looking Glass," "House Of Mirrors,"
"The Things You See," "Proto-Cosmos," and "Zone" (!). I will say that having
the two holdovers from the tape transcribed in standard page size is
considerably more fascilitating towards reading than the size presented in the
original video booklet.
Overall, this isn't a bad package at all. It's very nicely put together, and
contains a few nice photos (including a couple of Allan with the SynthAxe). I
do wish that the book had strayed a little farther away from a verbatim
regurgitation of the video -- there are a lot of AH tunes that I'd like to see
transcriptions of which aren't available, and this book might have provided an
opportunity to rectify that.
At any rate, die-hard Holdsworth fans will probably be grateful for any new
piece of material, and may well find the three new transcriptions alone to be
worth the money. Those already well-acquainted with the video, however, might
not find a great deal of interest here.
--Andre LaFosse
alafosse@macalstr.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 May 1994 16:35:33 +0500
From: s5umdc@fnma.COM (Mark Chisam)
Subject: just for the curious booklet
Anyone purchased this REH book which supplements the video?
What's does he cover in the book, thats not in the video?
Thanks,
Mark Chisam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 May 94 13:34:26 PDT
From: Peter Guilhamet
Subject: Re: A Few Questions
>Are there any song titles other than Devil Take the Hindmost which have
>a connection with cycling?
Spokes (from Secrets)
>Does anyone else think the solo was probably played without tapping?
I saw Allan use both hands on the fret board the first time I saw him (on the
Road Games tour); I thought it was pretty weird seeing the singer
holding the chords for him while he pounded the notes for Tokyo Dream. I've
never seen anything like it since, but it did happen then.
>during the IOU ... saw that he seldom used the whammy at all
Allan was using the whammy quite a bit last week in Santa Cruz; Gary tore it
up during the first set, but was a bit worn out for the second set;
Allan's playing was better (more fluid) during the second set. In total, I
think that they were the most enjoyable performances I've seen, i.e.
these guys are on fire !!! I was able to turn 3 of my friends on to his
performance this year, and each one was greatly affected (my sister hasn't
taken HHA out of her car stereo since). I noticed that the sound board guy was
spinning a portable tape drive of some sort during the first set (a live album
of this tour would be so great) ?? One of my speed-metal friends decided to
check it out, and said afterwards that he was thinking at points "please slow
down". I'm looking forward to the next visit.
later -pg-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "ToddM"
Date: 16 May 1994 18:28:31CST6CDT
Subject: Holdsworth's Legato Techniques
[ Moderator's note: I have reformatted Todd's text to 80 columns. --JP]
There are some misnomers involved when Holdsworth's soloing technique come
up. Of the sole video footage I saw of Allan playing, he did not rely on
two-handed technique very much except for playing chordal sequences (see
"Tokyo Dream") or fretting a bass note to a particular chord while his left
hand was already occupied (I believe this occurs on "The Things You See").
At the same time, a reader above noted a solo transcription for "In the
Mystery" where he noted a heavy preponderance of two-handed tapping. Not
quite... Holdsworth is using the legato technique. I'd be simplifying a
very useful technique to say that AH is using his left hand to generate
notes, then quickly LIFTING (not hammering) OFF and moving very swiftly to
the next note. The legato technique can also be used in conjunction with
alternate picking as well as two handed tapping (this gets you the eight
fingered Jeff Watson technique). As a guitarist, I have to be honest and
say that I stumbled across this technique one night while recording a tune
and dropped my pick. I continued to fret the notes with my left hand and
one section required an ascending chromatic line. When the tape was played
back, I laughed out loud since it sounded like the elusive "Holdsworth
Blizzards of Notes" technique (although at that time much slower and with
less control). I've spent about three years in using this technique and it
really can smooth out your playing. Not to say that I've subsumed my entire
technique with what was essentially developed and pioneered by someone else,
but I can be so tired of that alternate picking sound (no matter how
impressive "Big" Al DiMeola makes it sound). Using the legato technique can
give your playing the added twist it needs since most guitar players stick
to one kind of "schtick" (i.e. alternate picking, sweep picking, and/or
legato).
At the same time, part of the Holdsworthian magic (for me) is his incredibly
robust tone. It isn't just massive distortion with nice effects subtly
applied, it's the hands of a person who has worked on generating notes for
longer than I've been alive (god, scary thought, sorry Allan). And his
notes are robust, molten gold toned (see "Endomorph"). You can hear his
subtle, cultured vibrato, his incredible control over bending and shaking
notes. The little things add up. It takes a lot of work to get that kind
of raging tone and yet not get extraneous string noises and squeaks. I hear
something like "City Nights" and laugh at the apparent ease at pulling off a
solo like that. I have the transcription of that particular tune. It's not
easy. Even a song as deceptive as "Temporary Fault" (the beautifully melodic
tune from I.O.U.) - the guitar lines sound effortless, but there's a logic
here operating that is beyond your average technique (check the waycool
chords).
Holdsworth's melodic constructions and compositions are great. Some chords
are close voiced, some far out. A tune like "Sundays" from the second
Gordon Beck collaboration amazes me - the chords and waves of sound is like
a reverie. Secrets indeed. A song like Tullio from his most recent
recording, _Hard Hat Area_ is another puzzle - I'm amazed that Allan got
through it. All those changes. And yet, the song has heart - it's not just
a showy excercise. Other pieces that show compositional brilliance:
"Distance vs. Desire" from "Sand". My fiancee' thinks this tune is "pretty,
beautiful". His emotive soloing over thick string pads sets up a jazzy
atmosphere of a quiet club late at night. Amazing.
Anyway, this is my two cents. Holdsworth, to me, will always be more of a
musician than a "guitar player" to me, although guitar playing is what really
made him what he is today.
-ToddM
LaserMaster Technical Support.
toddm@ramrod.lmt.mn.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 May 1994 12:42:56 +1000
From: Andrew Studer
Subject: 1st Sydney review- brief comment
Hi there. I'm in a rush, so just a few quick comments on the first Sydney AH
show.
General rating: good, but not as breathtaking as last time he was here.
Band members:
SKULI: played well. Solos weren't as well constructed as they could have been,
but were still damn good. Knows how to keep out of the way during other people's
solos, could maybe put in a few more twiddles during the ensemble parts (he
tends to play straight bass notes, without variation, in these sections. The
bassist on the previous tour- whose name escapes me- only had one solo in the
emtire night, but packed more variation in while the rest of the band were
playing.
ALLAN AND MIKE: same comments apply to both, really. They only had two gears
last night: full on hemidemisemiquavers or nice and slow. Mike in particular
seemed to have to arpeggiate the WHOLE time, I really felt his solos didn't
always suit the chord changes within the song. Slow down mate!. Allan's slow
stuff was gorgeous, he did the "gentle chordy thing" in the second set (with
Mike coming in and then rest of band). But there was no "inbetween"- all the
solos during the more pacy tunes were REALLY fast. Which meant that, here too,
the solos weren't as "constructed" as they could have been. Maybe Al read all
the promotional blurbs around about being the "fastest player around" and felt
he had to live up to it.
GARY: Now, I know there are a few Gary fands out there, but I really wish this
guy would SHUT UP. He overplayed the ENTIRE night. He wasn't nearly as bad as
this on the last tour, where, sure he was busy, but it seemed to fit. Gary
left no "holes" for the other players to fill up. Tunes that should have sounded
seamless and smooth came out cluttered. For example, the encore (Non- Brewed
Condiment), was way overplayed compared to the original (which I checked out
again this morning). Bring back Chad! Gary- take a valium!
Andrew Studer
studer@physics.su.oz.au
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 May 94 21:44:58 -0400
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: Paz's LIVE IN PEACE
Looks like Cadence now has copies of LOVE IN PEACE (AMOUR EM PAZ) by the
fusion group Paz. I should have a copy of it in hand in a few days.
[and yes, this has to do with Allan :)--purportedly Allan plays on at least
some of the tracks]
-Lynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
========= End of Atavachron Digest ========= I
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those of the individual contributors. I I
Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Number 96
Friday, 27 May 1994
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
Wackerman discs
Re: A Few Questions
Re: Atavachron Digest Number 95
Curious about _...Curious_
Re: This 'n' that
Re: This 'n' that
Melbourne gig
Re: Melbourne gig
Re: Atavachron Digest Number 95
Australian Update from a.m.p.
Paz
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 May 94 14:02:52 -0500
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Wackerman discs
Well, I think we're generally all aware of Allan's feelings regarding Walter
Quintus' production on _The View_. But I'm curious about something: How does
Allan feel about _Forty Reasons_? Presumably, he wouldn't have agreed to play
on _The View_ if he felt as strongly about _FR_ as he seems to feel about
_TV_.
My take on the two Wackerman discs: I like _Forty Reasons_ a lot. I find _The
View_ to be enjoyable too, but Allan's blasting of the production job colors
the listening experience somewhat. For example, when I hear an effect, I find
myself thinking, "Gee... I wonder if Allan did that on purpose, or if it's
more of Quintus' meddling?"
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 May 94 15:38:31 -0400
From: barrett@hobbes.cs.umass.edu (Daniel Barrett)
Subject: Re: A Few Questions
Peter Guilhamet says:
>I saw Allan use both hands on the fret board the first time I saw him (on the
>Road Games tour); I thought it was pretty weird seeing the singer
>holding the chords for him while he pounded the notes for Tokyo Dream. I've
>never seen anything like it since, but it did happen then.
In the song "Road Games", there is a section in the middle, just
before the solo, that sounds a bit like like fiddles. I saw him play
this one live, and he definitely had 2 hands on the fretboard. It looked
like he was slapping the frets with all his right hand fingers at once.
We sat in awe trying to figure out how the hell he got that sound!
Dan
//////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
| Dan Barrett -- Dept of Computer Science, Lederle Graduate Research Center |
| University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 -- barrett@cs.umass.edu |
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: AFCPeterS@aol.com
Date: Fri, 20 May 94 17:26:33 EDT
Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 95
> From: pvallado@sdcc5.UCSD.EDU (Paolo Valladolid)
> Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 94
> Date: Mon, 16 May 94 12:08:11 PDT
>
> AH with Sancious would definitely be a treat; Sancious, being a sax
> player and guitarist as well as a keyboardist, has both chops and
> taste.
I wasn't aware that Sancious played sax, too. He's never recorded on the
instrument, to my knowledge, and I've only seen him play keyboards and guitar
live.
As a guitarist, Sancious was - at least at one point - *heavily* influenced
by Holdsworth. If you listen through his Just As I Thought album, the
Holdsworthisms are obvious - particularly if you know Sancious' previous
guitar work - as is the influence of the entire One Of A Kind album by
Bruford. (Check out the Stewart-like Prophet patches and the guest appearance
by Jeff Berlin, as well as the tunes.) Unfortunately, this was Sancious' last
band album, and the subsequent The Bridge the last album under his own name
of any kind. Why does no one offer this man a record deal?!?
Peter Stoller
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Curious about _...Curious_
Date: Fri, 20 May 94 23:12:30 EDT
> From: ALAFOSSE@macalstr.edu
> Subject: _Just For The Curious_: First Impressions
> This is basically last year's REH video in a book format. I was a bit
> surprised at just how derivative of the video the whole book --and
accompanying
> CD -- is; given the comments I had heard regarding Holdsworth's apparent
> dissatisfaction with the video, and his desire to clarify certain elements of
> it through _JFTC_, I had expected something substantially different.
This came as a bit of shock to me as well. One of the questions which
I'd wanted Chris Hoard to ask in the interview went essentially like this:
You say you were unhappy with the REH video -- why? And was
_Just For The Curious_ an attempt to compensate?
In the interview (after liberal application of Anchor Steam, heh), it
came out:
Why were you less than pleased with the REH video *and* the
book, _JFTC_?
Of course in actuality, this question provided more information in the
long run, because Allan replied that he *wasn't* unhappy with the book.
That's what puzzled me about the recording that came with _JFTC_, since
it IS the same audio as what's found on the video, and THAT was what
had Allan upset about the video in the first place! If he were truly
*happy* with _JFTC_, one would think the audio portion would also have
met with his approval.
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kingsley Durant Jr
Subject: Re: This 'n' that
Date: Sun, 22 May 94 16:16:52 EDT
A couple of responses to recent threads & questions.
RE: Two-handed tapping. There's a fair bit of tapping on _Road
Games_, e.g. most of the head to "Tokyo Dream," the first part
of the bridge to "Road Games" (very Satriani-ish), and a bit of
the solo on "Three Sheets to the Wind" (a brief Van Halen-esque
interlude, in fact!) This seems to have been a temporary bit
of insanity for AH, though. As others have observed, he more
often saves it for emphasizing a bass note (or reaching one
that the LH can't grab) or doing the sort of picked/hammered
arpeggios that appear in "Tokyo Dream" "Home" "In the mystery"
and so on. My guess is that the LH might have reached over for
one bit of the "Mystery" solo (nb this solo is one of my
*all-time* faves) but that's all.
RE: The bar. Allan used the bar *a lot* in the Gong days but
by IOU had disavowed its use for the most part ("Now it's like
tennis shoes, you know, everybody's got a pair!" --AH, Dec '82
GP interview). In fact, he seems to use more of a classical
(parallel to the neck) vibrato than a blues shake. This is not
easy when the LH is fingering the sorts of inversions AH tends
to favor. Watch how he puts vibrato on the chords he
illustrates on his video. Yow! Sounds nice, though.
RE: Learning Holdsworth. I'm impressed that somebody would
learn AH's whole schtick both ways, but I find it a bit
depressing when anyone with that much facility would devote it
to learning someone else's style. This is my take on Bill
Connors' work that has under discussion as well: Why bother?
RE: Bicycling references: "Tullio" refers to Tullio
Campagnolo, a name familiar to any bicyclist; Campagnolo is
*the* manufacturer of racing-quality bicycle parts (hubs,
brakes, derailleurs, etc.). Also, "Against the clock" could be
construed as referring to a time trial, and I've experienced
"Panic Station" in a couple of bicycling situations.
Final comment: kudos to Todd M for really nailing the essence
in his last post. AH is, first and foremost, a *musician* of
the highest order, and all his guitaristic innovations pale
before that fact.
Kingsley
--
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Kingsley Durant a.k.a. kd3e@uva386.schools.virginia.edu
1602 Townwood Court
Charlottesville, VA 22901
(804) 974-7108
"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not
everything that can be counted, counts."
--A. Einstein
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 14:09:54 -0500 (CDT)
From: "WDDOZIER@ANL.GOV, (708)252-5476"
Subject: Re: This 'n' that
>RE: Learning Holdsworth. I'm impressed that somebody would
>learn AH's whole schtick both ways, but I find it a bit
>depressing when anyone with that much facility would devote it
>to learning someone else's style. This is my take on Bill
>Connors' work that has under discussion as well: Why bother?
Why bother? Well, I can't speak for my friend, but I would guess that it's
because he heard someone playing in the manner that he had imagined possible
but hadn't been able to invent himself. I see nothing wrong with that at all.
One could say that Allan has founded a new "school" of guitar playing and that
just because another person finds that form of expression most appropriate for
his own art doesn't make his art less his own. Where all the Impressionists
copying the same guy?
Bill
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Melbourne gig
Date: Tue, 24 May 1994 13:35:28 +1000
From: David Mitchell
I went to see AH in Melbourne. He only did one show, at the Central Club.
The Central Club is a pub generally played by rock bands, which may explain
the sound.
I was standing immediately behind the mixing desk, in clear view of the stage,
which is normally the best place to stand for sound. All I could hear was
AH, huge amounts of cymbal/hihat and keyboards. If I'd closed my eyes, I could
have been persuaded that the bass player didn't turn up, and the drummer had
a cymbal only kit. During the bass solos, I became convinced that I was
hearing him only through his onstage amp, not through the PA at all.
Maybe the mixer thought "This isn't a rock gig, so I'm not going to give the
punters any bass in the mix AT ALL", maybe he was drunk/stoned/whatever, but
I was totally disappointed.
I've played at this venue before, seen other bands play there lots of times
and they usually have problems with too much bass, so I know it's not an
acoustics thing.
At one point, AH led the band offstage and apologised for the shocking sound,
so it was possibly equipment failure, but the inputs to the mixing board were
all fine. The levels were set extremely low on the bass and kick drum, and I
couldn't see much more than that. If anything was broken, they could've
borrowed stuff from the band in the next room - they were playing alternating
sets...
Just for kicks, go home, put AH on your stereo and turn the bottom half of
your graphic EQ to minimum. See how long you can stand it...
For non-musical reasons, I left early and missed the second set, so things
may have been 100% better by then.
Next time, I hope AH:
- plays more than 1 show
- plays at a better venue
- replaces either his mixer or his gear, depending on which was at fault
I really appreciated the chance to see him play, but I felt very upset
at only hearing 1/2 the band. By the way, AH sounded and played great.
Dave Mitchell
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Re: Melbourne gig
Date: Tue, 24 May 94 1:48:37 EDT
> From: David Mitchell
> Subject: Melbourne gig
> Maybe the mixer thought "This isn't a rock gig, so I'm not going to give the
> punters any bass in the mix AT ALL", maybe he was drunk/stoned/whatever, but
> I was totally disappointed.
Not to play the role of apologist, but if the situation in
Australia was the same as it was when I saw Allan in Tempe, AZ,
they were travelling sans crew -- which means Gordon Davis, who
normally runs sound for the band, was not with them. Did you get
to talk to the soundman, David? I'd be curious to know if Gordon
was there.
Other Australia news: Chad Wackerman and his wife, Naomi, have
relocated to Australia (where on the continent, I do not know...
this is recent news from Claire). They are reportedly also seeking
Internet access.
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 May 94 17:23:44 EDT
From: Chris Mccabe
Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 95
Is it true??! Did Miles Davis really ask Allan to fill in for
John Scofield? That's amazing - I was always wondering why he seemed to
have been overlooked by Miles. After all, Allan is exactly the type guy
Miles was looking for (i.e. unique sound and approach, exceptional
improvisational techniques, etc..etc..). If it's true, that's one amazing
little tidbit of jazz trivia/history that I shall remember! What a loss
for both men - it (IMHO) would have certainly boosted Allan's recognition,
and given Miles the closet thing to his late Tenor sax player, John Coltrane,
(albeit on guitar) that ever reached my ears.
Chris.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: C_HOARD@BAX.compuserve.com
Date: 26 May 94 17:45:02 EDT
Subject: Australian Update from a.m.p.
from: alt.music.progressive --
Jeff--just in case you hadn't grabbed this for Atavachron--I'm forwarding
it on to the digest:
"HOLDSWORTH in Australia"
martin@itd.adelaide.edu.au
Hi folks!
Thought Holdsworth listeners would be interested to know that he was
in Adelaide, Australia last night putting on an awesome display with
Gary Husband (Drums), Skuli Sverrisen (Bass), Steve Hunt (Keybords).
I have never heard him play live before, so this was a mememorable
occasion to say the least. Allan seemed to be in fine spirits (apart
from being slightly pissed off with the lights on him constantly throughout
the show), and although I am not familiar with the titles of his music, they
performed 2 sets of around 50 mins. This included some amazing solos from
all members, Gary Husband played like a man possessed,and kept one of the
crew busy collecting drum sticks that were flying around all over the place.
This man is on a destruction mission and gave those drums one hell of a
work-out, Skuli looked at his Bass neck maybe half a dozen times during the
night, and played with great feel as did Steve who played keyboards as if
it was as easy as ironing a shirt, another night at the office, but do those
notes come flying off that keyboard or what, great sounds!!
I recall a couple of pieces from "Metal Fatigue" and I assume quite a few
were from "Hard Hat Area" so I will have to go check that one out.
Anyway, It was great to see him over here and give us a taste of his
extraordinary music and technique. A lot of people left completely blown
away!
I hope he releases a "LIVE" recording sometime soon as this show really
cooked!
If you get the chance to see him .... GO!!!!
Martin Boyd
University of Adelaide
============================================================================
Seems a few of us have shared in a truly global force...
--Chris
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 May 94 22:51:32 -0400
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: Paz
After listening to "Love In Peace (Amour Em Paz)", a recording by the group
Paz that features Allan on guitar on a few cuts, I can say that you shouldn't
bother hunting for this one. To be honest, I'm not sure I heard Allan's
playing on more than one or two cuts [the liner notes don't indicate who
plays on which cuts] and even those cuts were nothing to get terribly excited
about. I pretty much lost interest after the first track. Definitely falls
into the 80s light fusion type category. I had been looking forward to this
since reading a really nice review of it in Cadence about a year ago. Big
disappointment. :( I suppose it should go into the discography, nonetheless
(maybe with a warning :).
-Lynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I ========= End of Atavachron Digest =========
\ :::: ]I[ :::: /
: ::::::: ]] [[ ::::::: : Administrative requests to:
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I I those of the individual contributors.
Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Number 97
Saturday, 28 May 1994
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
Tab to Three Sheets To The Wind
Okay--Might As Well Spill All The Beans...
Re: Okay--Might As Well Spill All The Beans...
Concert Review
Atavachron Digest Number 96
A couple of days with the Brewer, or making you drool :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jason.Julyan@tiuk.ti.com
Date: Fri, 27 May 94 15:33:58 BST
Subject: Tab to Three Sheets To The Wind
Jeff,
I sent this to atavachron-digest@msuacad.morehead-st.edu but it
bounced, so I hope you get it. As a suggestion could you add a line to the
Atavchron digest ".sig" saying "Send contributions to: " - I can
never figure out which address I should use!
On the subject of cycling, "Sundays" from "With a Heart in my Song" starts
with the sound of a bicycle chain & pedals being turned.
This was salvaged from alt.guitar.tab:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Article 25103 of alt.guitar.tab:
Newsgroups: alt.guitar.tab
From: hane@halfdome.Stanford.EDU (Masami Hane)
Subject: TAB: Allan Holdsworth "Three sheets in the wind"
Date: Mon, 16 May 94 23:16:56 GMT
Here, I posted the first song of the Allan Holdsworth's mini-LP "Road Games"
transcribed into TAB? format. (Sorry, no solo part transcribed.)
Any comments and suggestion would be appreciated.
Especially, can anyone post a chord-progression for the solo part?
(This TAB format does not represent acculate note length, but only
the fret positions of the guitar's finger board were given.)
-----------cut here-------cut here--------cut here-----------------------
"THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND"
by Allan Holdsworth
from the album "Road Games"
Intro
E --16----12----9----4------------
B --12-----9----5----1------------
G --15----12----8----4------------
D --13----11----6----3------------
A -------------------0------------
E --------------------------------
Theme A ( '->' means a slide motion)
E ||----------15----11-------6------8--------------6->5----
B ||---12->13----13--9---9---6---6----------------------8--
G ||*------------------------------------0-----------------
D ||*--14-----------10-------8------7-------7--------------
A ||----------------------------------------8--------------
E ||---16->15-------11------10------8--8----8--------------
E ---9-------6---4----7-------2-------------14-------12-14-12-----10--
B ---9---13--6---4----7---11--2-------------10-------10-----------10--
G --------------------------------------------------------------------
D --11-------8---6----9-------4-------------12-------12-----------12--
A --------------------------------------------------------------------
E --13------10---8---11-------6---6--4---4--14------------------------
+--- 1 ---------
|
E --14----11-----6---------||
B --16----14-----9---------||
G --15----16----11--------*||
D --13----14-----9--------*||
A -------------------------||
E -------------------------||
+--- 2 ---------
|
E --14----11-----9-----9-------10---7----7--------
B --16----15----14----13-----------11---11--------
G --15----14----13----12------------9----9--------
D --13----16----15----14-----------12---13--------
A ------------------------------------------------
E ------------------------------------------------
E ---7-----------7-----------7-------------7-----||
B --10----------11----------11----------11-------||
G ---9----------10----------11-------11----------||
D --11----------12----------13----13-------------||
A -----------------------------------------------||
E -----------------------------------------------||
Bridge (0/5 A pedal note, repeat twice)
E -||---7-----5-----4-----2---2--------0------0-----0-----0-------||
B -||---4-----3-----7-----5-----5--6-----6----3--------4-----2----||
G -||*--6-----5-----6-----4--------5-------5--3--------6-----4---*||
D -||*--6-----5-----6-----4--------5----------3--------6-----4---*||
A -||---0-----0-----0-----0--------0----------0--------0-----0----||
E -||-------------------------------------------------------------||
(Solo part was not transcribed here)
D.S. to A (Theme A)
+--- 3 ---------
|
E --14----11-----6--------7-------
B --16----14-----9--------4-------
G --15----16----11--------7-------
D --13----14-----9--------6-------
A ------------------------0-------
E --------------------------------
E ---------15----11-------6------8--------------6->5----
B --12->13----13--9---9---6---6----------------------8--
G ------------------------------------0-----------------
D --14-----------10-------8------7-------7--------------
A ---------------------------------------8--------------
E --16->15-------11------10------8--8----8--------------
E ---9-------6---4----7-------2-------------14-------12-14-12-----10--
B ---9---13--6---4----7---11--2-------------10-------10-----------10--
G --------------------------------------------------------------------
D --11-------8---6----9-------4-------------12-------12-----------12--
A --------------------------------------------------------------------
E --13------10---8---11-------6---6--4---4--14------------------------
E --14----11-----9-----9-------10---7----7--------
B --16----15----14----13-----------11---11--------
G --15----14----13----12------------9----9--------
D --13----16----15----14-----------12---13--------
A ------------------------------------------------
E ------------------------------------------------
E ---7-----------7-----------7-------------||
B --10----------11----------11-------------||
G ---9----------10----------11-------------||
D --11----------12----------13-------------||
A -----------------------------------------||
E -----------------------------------------|| END
(Playing tips : For your Left-hand, use the Ring-finger on the 6th-string
so that the Pinky can be used for the notes on the 1st and 2nd strings. )
------------------------------------------------------------
Masami Hane
Department of Electrical Engineering, AEL224, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
TTFN, Jason
_
* Jason B.E. Julyan BEng(Hons) MSc * Texas Instruments Ltd. * | |_o_ _
* TMS380 LAN Products Design Team * Manton Lane, * __| |_i_| |
* a740778@server1.tiuk.ti.com IMS: JBEJ * Bedford, U.K. * \ |i| |
* All opinions expressed herein are personal ONLY * \__ |_| /
|___/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: C_HOARD@BAX.compuserve.com
Date: 27 May 94 14:03:34 EDT
Subject: Okay--Might As Well Spill All The Beans...
Atavachronimals--I quote:
>Date: Thu, 26 May 94 17:23:44 EDT
>From: Chris Mccabe
>Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 95
>Is it true??! Did Miles Davis really ask Allan to fill in for
>John Scofield? That's amazing - I was always wondering why he seemed to
>have been overlooked by Miles.
Would I lie to you? I know Mr. Preston thinks at times I can't handle
my ale (this only happens when AH pulls a fifth or sixth pint). AH
himself told me about the call--and I later confirmed this with Miles'
band last keyboardist, Adam Holzman (who used to lead a somewhat
cheezy fusion band called the Fents in LA, who also openned for AH
on several occasions). Adam, btw, was a religious AH fan--and had
been pleading with Miles to give AH the call after Sco left--but Miles
was well aware of AH prior to this period--Miles remained in touch
with Tony Williams throughout the 70s--I suspect this question came
up before the late 80s as well. So the two credible sources here
are Holzman and Holdsworth; good enough for me.
If that wasn't enough--I actually introduced Miles to AH backstage at
the LA Music Center's premiere of John McLaughlin's Mediterranean
Concerto for Guitar. I'll never forget that--chatting with the Prince
of Darkness in his body-length black leather robe. I was a member
of the press invited backstage--I think AH and Claire were guests
of McLaughlin. John seemed to be pleased that AH was there. It was
about a year later that AH had the call from Miles--but had already
committed to a major joint-tour with Chick Corea's E-band--and
after Miles' found lead-bassist Foley in his last band--that sort
of closed the door on that opportunity--much to Holzman's dismay.
Now--more tabloid inuendo. Did anybody know that AH was invited to
join Animal Logic with Stewart Copeland and Stanley Clarke? I think
it was probably for the better AH steered clear of this--as they
never seemed to go anywhere. AH told me this a while back, much
to my surprise. Apparently Copeland asked him to come down and
audition--AH declined, and told them something to the effect: I don't
do auditions--you either know what I do--and want it--or you don't.
I think out of AH's tremendous respect for Zawinul--he did audition
for the Zawinul Syndicate--I'm not sure whether the chemistry wasn't
right--or AH insisted on being involved in writing the music--so
something happened there and it didn't work out--but don't quote me.
The irony was Steve Khan wound up with the gig--I remember a review
of the early ZS shows--the reviewer went on about Khan "emulating
Holdsworth to a fault." Later of course, Scott Henderson replaced
Khan, and that didn't last very long. I have no doubt, were the
circumstances right--AH would work with Zawinul. AH was greatly
sadenned when Jaco died, as well; I think the one bassist AH would
have liked to have worked with more than any other was Pastorius.
Next up: AH invited to join Yes... (just kidding)...
Cheers/C.H.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 May 94 14:34:27 -0500
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Re: Okay--Might As Well Spill All The Beans...
Among other things, C_HOARD@BAX.compuserve.com said:
> Now--more tabloid inuendo. Did anybody know that AH was invited to
> join Animal Logic with Stewart Copeland and Stanley Clarke? I think
> it was probably for the better AH steered clear of this--as they
> never seemed to go anywhere. AH told me this a while back, much
> to my surprise. Apparently Copeland asked him to come down and
> audition--AH declined, and told them something to the effect: I don't
> do auditions--you either know what I do--and want it--or you don't.
Too bad! While I wouldn't exactly call the two Animal Logic albums "ground
breaking", I found them to be enjoyable overall. I think Allan's playing
would have complemented Copeland and Clarke nicely; maybe with him on board
they might even have "gone somewhere". Would have been a better fit than
Level 42, IMHO.
Now, getting off on an inter-dimensional tangent, re: our fearless leader's
mind-bending encounter with Sierra Nevada pale ale in Tempe... A store near
my house has just started carrying three different kinds of Sierra Nevada --
ale, porter, and (I think) stout. The porter is excellent; I haven't tried
the other two yet. Which brings up an interesting question: How many
Atavachron readers are also microbrewery fans?
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
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Date: Fri, 27 May 1994 16:18:58 -0700
From: banders@netcom.com (Paul B. Anders)
Subject: Concert Review
Here is a concert review I'd posted earler to rec.music.bluenote...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi, I'm new to posting to rec.music.bluenote, thought I'd submit a review
of a recent Allan Holdsworth concert I attended at the Great America Music
Hall in San Francisco.
In a nutshell, it was an incredible show. I've seen AH at the Music Hall
twice before, with Jimmy Johnson on bass, Chad Wackerman on drums, and
most recently, with Steve Hunt on keyboards. Both concerts, while entertaining,
seemed to lack much emotion and seemed rushed (probably because of the 10pm
show crowd beating on the doors outside).
The most recent show featured the band from AH's newest release, Hard Hat
Area. AH on guitar (no Synthaxe), Skuli S. on bass, Steve Hunt on keys, and
Gary Husband on drums. I'd seen Gary with AH a long time ago, but it was in
a pretty crummy joint, and rembember little from the concert that impressed
me about the drumming. Well, out they come, and the first tune is the second
song on the new album (names escape me at the moment). This tune set the tone
for the rest of the concert. Gary Husband was incredible. I've become so used
to Wackerman, who I also consider to be very good, I never expected that
Husband would be so refreshing. The mix was very poor, they worked on it
throughout the concert, achieving a fairly good sound by the end (I still could
never hear the damn keyboards, though).
Husband was literally beating the drums to death. AH and SH really started to
push hard to keep up with Husband's energy. By mid-concert, my friend and I
began to wonder if all three would be dead from cardiac arrest before the end,
or else we would. One disappointment for me at AH concerts is that I only get
one listening to the improvisations. It's very hard to connect with the flow
of ideas for very long before I loose it. Much easier with recordings, where
you get time to learn the flow and melodic ideas in the solos.
The highlight of the concert was during Devil Take the Hindmost. After SH's
solo (very impressive), AH launched into an extremely fast, rhythmic interlude
before starting his solo proper. Husband matched him whack for note, blowing
through his toms as if possessed. I'm not kidding when I say there was a
cloud of wood chips from his sticks in the air as he connected with AH. My
friend (an ex-Berklee guitarist) punched me in the shoulder when it was over
and the solo began, and babbled "My God, that was incredible!"
Many tunes were played from the new and recent albums, as well as some oldies
from the Tony Williams days. Two encores, and it was over. Again, a very
impressive show. No, it's not the most subtle music in the world, but the
instrumental virtuosity and exploratory improvisation were truly impressive.
--
****************************************
* Brad Anders * Sunnyvale, CA *
* banders@netcom.com * *
****************************************
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Subject: Atavachron Digest Number 96
From: gil.amarilio@execnet.com (Gil Amarilio)
Date: Fri, 27 May 94 19:52:00 -0500
Hi folks,
I'm sorry to inform you all, that Warner Bros. Records turned down our
request to license "ROAD GAMES". We'll keep trying!
Regards,
Gil
Ozone Records.
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Subject: A couple of days with the Brewer, or making you drool :)
Date: Sat, 28 May 1994 23:56:56 +1000
From: Jim Trivellas
Greetings Atavachronians, (don't worry Chris I'd used this long before you
did :) )
I'll be brief today, but I shall give you an indication of what is about to
come.
I saw Allan's Melbourne gig at the Central Club on Friday 20th May. A
friend of mine and I got there at 5:30pm and caught the soundcheck. We
were treated to versions of Funnels and Protocosmos. At the end of the
soundcheck I introduced myself to Allan and he said something like "Hey,
its great to meet you in person at last", since I've communicated with
Claire via email a couple of times since winning the atavachron quiz. Claire
had asked Allan to put our names at the door, so this was a freebie!
The sound guy seemed like a decent chap, and even let us take a really close
look at Allan's gear (as long as we didn't touch anything). Quite a few
surprises there for all the gearheads, but you'll have to wait for future
editions of atavachron to get some of the Juicy info!
However, the sound guy didn't seem like the ideal person for this sort of gig.
The sound at the soundcheck was great, but he was tweaking the controls after
Allan and the band went to their hotel to get "Forty Winks" (a result of a
late drinking session in Sydney the previous night).
Obviously this tweaking was enough to completely screw up the sound for the
first set. The mix was awful and it was so darn loud it was distorting. The
funny thing is that Allan told the soundguy that this wasn't a rock band,
so it didn't have to be that loud. The second set was great. Most of the
problems were fixed and the sound was superb, altough Allan complained later
on that all he was hearing was the sound from the PA's horns. The horns
were above our head level so he was getting all this horn-bounceback, whilst
the low-end driver sound was absorbed by the audience. As Allan told me later
on, it was like "razor blades in my ears". The scary thing is that if these
guys can play like that under these conditions, then imagine what they can
play like if they really like the sound. Anyhow, grim sound for the first
set, great sound for the second, and amazing playing all round. BTW, Allan
didn't travel with his soundguy. It was just the band.
Heh, there were a few funny comments during the show. At one point someone
yelled out "You don't need the keyboards Allan", and Allan promptly replied
"Oh, but I do!". Another guy yelled out "Hey Gary, were did you get the
mowhair teeshirt", since Gary was only wearing bathers and is quite hairy.
Here's the set list:
1st set: RUHKUKAH
THE THINGS YOU SEE
PUD WUD
FUNNELS
LOW LEVELS HIGH STAKES
LOOKING GLASS
2ns set: SHALLOW SEA
DEVIL TAKE THE HINDMOST
HOUSE OF MIRRORS
WATER ON THE BRAIN PT. II
DRUM SOLO
ZONE/POSTLUDE
PROTOCOSMOS
Encore: NON-BREWED CONDIMENT (on the standard DeLap guitar, no
guitar tuned in fifths this time!)
After the gig, when about 90% of the people had left, Allan started to pack
his gear. We waited a while and started talking with him. He seemed relaxed
and very friendly, and revealed some of his sound secrets to us, you'd be
surprised, but I'll reveal all in a future edition.
A Symmetrix-501 compressor-limiter that he was using as a peak limiter
for his clean sounds was falling apart, and asked us if we knew of a
hardware store that had some of these small machine screws, since he had
another two gigs to do and needed it. We said "Don't worry we'll help
you out" since I have quite a few of these at home. Allan said to give him
a call at his hotel at 1pm on the following day (Saturday 21st May) and
that we'll take it from there.
I called Allan at 1pm the next day, and I found out that Gary also needed
some drum sticks (big surprise-NOT), so I said that we'll help them out.
We left my place at 1:30pm and got there at 2:00pm. They had finished their
breakfast and Skuli had left with a friend of his who was showing him around.
Allan's compressor was fixed, and we were on our way to Billy Hyde's, a local
drum shop. Who would have believed it. Well, BELIEVE IT :)
(Tony Williams New Lifetime pun intented)
Steve, Allan and Gary were in the back seats, with Gary doing some filming
with his video camera, and a good friend of mine (Robert) doing the driving
and I in the front seats.
On the way we had _Hard Hat Area_ on and Allan didn't object at all. There
were even some jokes like "Hey Allan, who is this guy, he sounds so much
like you". You wouldn't believe some of the amps that he used for some of the
tunes. He sold these coz he obviously didn't like them all that much, but
he used a Soldano Hot-Rod-50 for Ruhkukah, and a Peavey EVH5150 for Tullio.
The EVH5150 was a real surprise since these are pretty farty sounding amps
(***WARNING-WARNING-OPINION ALERT***), but through the HARNESS and some heavy
filtering they sounded OK. However, he does prefer the Boogie Cal.50 and
Dual Rectifier. But more on this in the future (man, what a tease :) ).
As we were enjoying Steve's solo on Tullio, and Allan's harmonizing with it
in the car (Bo-bo-bo-bop, bo-bo-bop...) we suddenly hear Allan say
"Molesworth Street ?!?!" as we passed such a street :)
We finally got to Billy Hyde's. As we walked in I saw a mate of mine, a
drummer who played in one of the first fusion bands that I was in. His
name is Tony and he works at the music store. So I go up to him and say
something like "Hey, Tony howsitgoin' mate. BTW do you know these guys?"
He turned around to see Allan, Gary, and Steve. His jaw dropped. Man, the
expression on his face, it still makes me laugh. We stayed there for about
half an hour as we chatted and had some photos taken. Then it was back to the
hotel.
A little while later it was time for the Brewer to enjoy his favourite food,
Fish 'n Chips. So we went with Allan and Steve and had some sea-perch with
chips. Gary stayed back at the hotel to eat something else.
After enjoying our Fish 'n Chips we got back to the hotel, and had some
tea. After this Steve said that he was feeling a little tired and wanted
an early night, whilst Gary was going to see a local keyboard player's gig
whom he'd played with on a Billy Cobham album.
Then Allan said "Hey guys, do you want to go to the Redback Brewery and
watch me pound some Ales?" He said watch coz he knew that I don't drink
alcohol, and Robert isn't much of a drinker either. So it was mineral water
for me.
Well, we went to the Redback Brewery, and Allan sampled quite a few of the
Beers on offer. By the end of the night we found out that he liked
Redback Nefe Weizen the most. Although we'd been talking about anything
and everything up until now, and Allan seemed very relaxed and uninhibited,
there must have been something about the Demon Ale, coz we got information
overload from Allan. He was also quite surprised that we knew so much about
him. But I think he enjoyed talking to us, since he didn't initially
remember anything about the Cymbiosis interview that he did in 1986 after
I asked him a question about it, and when he remebered it he said "Hey, its
great talking to you guys coz you're helping me jog my memory". However,
he hasn't forgoten what guitar or amp he used for a particular tune, or how
he recorded a particular tune. He said "ask me any question about that".
So we did, and got some unexpected answers.
At 11pm, Allan said that he should get some sleep since they were catching an
early flight to Sydney for another gig. So I bought Allan a couple of
Redback drinking glasses to remember us by, and left the brewery. On the
way we talked some more about digital recording and mastering among other
things. At the hotel Allan autographed some LP and CD covers for us, we
took some pictures with the Brewer, and talked about UFOs and the little
Miss Muffet Spider that has appeared in different places from time to time
(like my .sig file :) ).
We then thanked Allan for an incredible day, put in a good word for Jeff
Preston without whom I wouldn't be telling you any of this, and hoped
to see him soon. Allan thanked us and said anytime we're in CA to look him
up. WOW!
Anyhow enough gloating for now :) . Stay tuned for more Juicy info, as
well as an updated transcription of the monstrous intro line from
"Non-Brewed Condiment".
BTW Chad Wackerman is living in Sydney with his Australian wife Naomi. After
having a son his wife thought that it would be a good idea if their son grew up
in Australia. If he needs any info regarding Net access, then perhaps I
might be of some assistance. I think Tony from Billy Hyde's is keeping in
touch with Chad so I should be able to contact him.
Regards, Jim (who has been in great spirits since hanging-out with the
Brewer).
PS. And to think that I said that I'll be brief today, in one of my opening
paragraphs. Sheesh!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Trivellas.
Computer Engineering Research Group.
Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
The University of Melbourne, Parkville 3052, Victoria, Australia.
|
***** Email: jimt@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au
_______*************_______
_|_____*****************_____|_
_|_|_____*****************_____|_|_ "Hello, is that the front desk?"
| | ________*************________ | | Allan Holdsworth
| | ***** | |
| The SPID |
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