AlChuck Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 Speaking of playing fast... I was in Tower Records today and I found a re-released edition of a recording from what I guess was the first band Allan Holdsworth recorded with -- 'Igginbottom's Wrench. (The band was 'Igginbottom, the album was their Wrench...) I had heard of them before, but never realized there was any exisitng recorded material... The music is more interesting and satisfying than I would have hoped. Holdsworth's harmonic cand melodic conception was already pretty full blown. They tried to do pop music with jazz chops. Holdsworth wrote most of the songs and he sings -- actually not too bad in a soft, Chet-Bakerish sort of way, or like Sting when he's singing old standards... It definitely doesn't rock, it's very soft and dreamy overall, bad quasi-psychedelic "deep" lyrics (I presume also by AH), but very interesting. Two guitars, bass, and drums. Guitar tone is all very clean and simple -- none of that rich, fluid distortion we expect from him. The other guitarist (Steven Robinson) also solos in a similar way to Holdsworth, a little more stiffly. Lots of interestingly worked-out interplay in the guitar parts. The other guys all disappeared. Interesting liner notes. One story in there relates how their managers interested Ronnie Scott in the young band, and they ended up playing last in a special guitar show after John Williams and Barney Kessel. An interesting side note: apparently one of their managers had a personal connection with vocalist Mike Patto and the great and under-appreciated guitarist Ollie Halsall, who also had a band (Timebox at first, and later Patto) that fused rock and jazz. -AlChuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbrock1san.rr.com Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 I thought I'd mention one of my favorite albums from the 70's. It's "Enigmatic Ocean" by Jean-Luc Ponty. It features Alan Holdsworth and Daryl Stuermer on guitars and they both play amazing solos and melodies. I consider it one of the great fusion albums, and it still sounds fresh and exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 I've got that Ponty album lurking somewhere. Haven't listened to it in ages... "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlChuck Posted July 7, 2001 Author Share Posted July 7, 2001 Enigmatic Ocean is a great one and contains some of Holdsworth's best playing... the contrast between Stuermer's much more stacatto style of phrasing with Holdsworth's legato, hornlike style is interesting. I think my favorite, though, remains Believe It by the New Tony Williams Lifetime... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted July 8, 2001 Share Posted July 8, 2001 Originally posted by AlChuck: An interesting side note: apparently one of their managers had a personal connection with vocalist Mike Patto and the great and under-appreciated guitarist Ollie Halsall, who also had a band (Timebox at first, and later Patto) that fused rock and jazz. -AlChuck Halsall and Holdsworth played together briefly in Tempst. I've got a live bootleg - it's hilarious. They were out for blood, if ont each others than anyone elses. Halsall had a great fusion style, it's a shame about him. I think this was in '72, and Holdsworth's style was full blown, and curiously implemented through what I'm absolutely is surely a 50 watt Marshall Super Lead. Much more aggressive and angular, but still very legato and pushing out. Considering he was playing like that live in '72, he was probably pretty conceptualized that way at least by '69 like you say. That's pretty revolutionary stuff; there are phases on this bootleg that I'm *quite* certain Eddie has heard..... ------------------ New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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