name	Soft Machine
landscape	Yes
background	group_or_band
origin	Canterbury, England, United Kingdom
genre	Canterbury scene, jazz fusion, progressive rock, psychedelic rock
years active	1966–1984
label	ABC Probe, Columbia, Harvest, EMI
associated acts	Caravan, Pink Floyd, Matching Mole, Nucleus, Gong, Soft Works, Isotope, Adiemus, Soft Machine Legacy, Soft Heap, Soft Head, Soft Bounds
current members	See Line-ups timeline
notable instruments	}}

Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book ''The Soft Machine'' by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre. Though they achieved little commercial success, they are considered by Allmusic to be "one of the more influential bands of their era, and certainly one of the most influential underground ones."

History

Beginnings, Psychedelic, Jazz fusion

Soft Machine (billed as ''The'' Soft Machine up to 1969) were formed in mid-1966 by Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals), Daevid Allen (guitar) and Mike Ratledge (organ) plus, for the first few gigs only, American guitarist Larry Nowlin. Allen, Wyatt and future bassist Hugh Hopper had first played together in the Daevid Allen Trio in 1963, occasionally accompanied by Ratledge. Wyatt, Ayers and Hopper had been founding members of the Wilde Flowers, later incarnations of which would include future members of another Canterbury band, Caravan.

This first Soft Machine line-up became involved in the early UK underground, featuring prominently at the UFO Club, and subsequently other London clubs like the Speakeasy and Middle Earth, and recorded the group's first single ' Love Makes Sweet Music', as well as some demo sessions that were released several years later. They also played in the Netherlands, Germany and on the French Riviera. During July and August 1967, the promoter and manager Giorgio Gomelsky booked shows all along the Côte d'Azur with the band's most notorious early gig taking place in the village square of Saint-Tropez. This led to an invitation to perform at producer Eddie Barclay's trendy "", performing a forty minute rendition of "We Did It Again", singing the refrain over and over, achieving a Zen-like quality. This made them instant darlings of the Parisian "in" crowd, resulting in invitations to appear on leading television shows and at the Paris Biennale in October 1967. Upon their return from their sojourn in France, Allen (an Australian) was denied re-entry to the United Kingdom, so the group continued as a trio, while he returned to Paris to form Gong.

Sharing the same management team as Jimi Hendrix, the band were rewarded with a support slot on the Jimi Hendrix Experience's North America tour throughout 1968. Soft Machine's first album - a psychedelic rock/proto-prog classic - was recorded in New York in April at the end of the first leg. Back in London, eventually guitarist Andy Summers, later of The Police, joined the group, fresh from his stint with Dantalian's Chariot (previously Zoot Money's Big Roll Band). After a few weeks of rehearsals, the new quartet began a tour of the USA with some solo shows before reuniting with Hendrix for a final string of dates in August–September 1968. Summers, however, had in the meantime been fired at the insistence of Ayers. Ayers departed amicably after the final date at the Hollywood Bowl, and for the remainder of 1968 Soft Machine were no more. Wyatt stayed in the US to record solo demos, while Ratledge returned to London and began composing in earnest.

In January 1969, in order to fulfil contractual obligations, Soft Machine reformed with former road manager and composer Hugh Hopper on bass added to Wyatt and Ratledge, and set about recording their second album, ''Volume Two'', which launched a transition towards a purely instrumental sound resembling what would be later called jazz fusion. In May 1969, this lineup acted as the uncredited backup band on two tracks of Syd Barrett's solo debut album, ''The Madcap Laughs''. The base trio was late in 1969 expanded to a septet with the addition of four horn players, though only saxophonist Elton Dean remained beyond a few months, the resulting Soft Machine quartet (Wyatt, Hopper, Ratledge and Dean) running through ''Third'' (1970) and ''Fourth'' (1971), with various guests, mostly jazz players (Lyn Dobson, Nick Evans, Mark Charig, Jimmy Hastings, Roy Babbington, Rab Spall). ''Fourth'' was the first of their fully instrumental albums, and the last one featuring Wyatt.

All members were highly literate in various musical backgrounds, but foremost was the eclectic genius of Ratledge, who through composition, arrangements and improvisational skills propelled a collective output of the highest standard, in which the vocal charm and extraordinarily original drumming of Wyatt, the lyricism of some of Dean's solos and the unusual avant-garde pop angle of Hopper's pieces all had a major role. Their propensity for building extended suites from regular sized compositions, both live and in the studio (already in the Ayers suite in their first album), reaches its maximum in the 1970 album ''Third'', unusual for its time in each of the four sides featuring one suite. ''Third'' was also unusual for remaining in print for more than ten years in the United States, and is the best-selling Soft Machine recording.

This period saw them gaining unprecedented acclaim across Europe, and they made history by becoming the first 'rock band' invited to play at London's Proms in August 1970, a show which was broadcast live and later appeared as a live album.

Post-Wyatt era

After differences over the group's musical direction, Wyatt left (or was fired from) the band in 1971 and formed Matching Mole (a pun on ''machine molle'' French for ''soft machine''). He was briefly replaced by Australian drummer Phil Howard, but further musical disagreements led to Howard's dismissal after the 1971 recording of the first LP side of ''Fifth'' (1972) and, some months later, to Dean's departure. They were replaced respectively by John Marshall (drums) and, for the recording of ''Six'' (1973), Karl Jenkins (reeds, keyboards), both former members of Ian Carr's Nucleus, and The Softs' sound developed even more towards jazz fusion.

In 1973, after ''Six'', Hopper left and was replaced by Roy Babbington, another former Nucleus member, who had already contributed with double bass on ''Fourth'' and ''Fifth'' and took up (6-string) electric bass successfully. This new quartet of Babbington, Jenkins, Marshall and Ratledge recorded the next (and last) three official Soft Machine studio releases. After they released ''Seven'' (1973) without additional musicians, the band switched record labels from Columbia to Harvest. On their 1975 album ''Bundles'', a significant musical change occurred with fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth adding guitar as a very prominent melody instrument to the band's sound, sometimes reminiscent of John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, setting the album apart from previous Soft Machine releases, which had rarely featured guitars. On the last official studio album ''Softs'' (1976), he was replaced by John Etheridge. Ratledge, the last remaining original member of the band, had left during the early stages of recording. Other musicians in the band during the later period were bassists Percy Jones (of Brand X) and Steve Cook, saxophonists Alan Wakeman and Ray Warleigh, and violinist Ric Sanders. Their 1977 performances and record (titled ''Alive and Well'', ironically) were among the last for Soft Machine as a working band. The Soft Machine name was used for the 1981 record ''Land of Cockayne'' (with Jack Bruce and, again, Allan Holdsworth, plus Ray Warleigh and Dick Morrissey on saxes and John Taylor on electric piano), and for a final series of dates at London's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in the summer of 1984, featuring Jenkins and Marshall leading an ad hoc lineup of Etheridge, Warleigh, pianist Dave MacRae and bassist Paul Carmichael.

Legacy

In Soft Machine's Allmusic biography, authors Dave Lynch and Richie Unterberger wrote:

"Soft Machine were never a commercial enterprise and indeed still remain unknown even to many listeners who came of age during the late '60s and early ‘70s, when the group was at its peak. In their own way, however, they were one of the more influential bands of their era, and certainly one of the most influential underground ones. One of the original British psychedelic groups, they were also instrumental in the birth of both progressive rock and jazz-rock. They were also the central foundation of the family tree of the "Canterbury Scene" of British progressive rock acts, a movement that also included Caravan, Gong, Matching Mole, Hatfield and the North, and National Health, not to mention the distinguished pop music careers of founding members Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers and the jazz and jazz-rock explorations of saxophonist Elton Dean and bassist Hugh Hopper."

Since 1988, a wealth of live recordings of Soft Machine have been issued on CD, with recording quality ranging from poor to excellent.

In 2002, four former Soft Machine members - Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, John Marshall and Allan Holdsworth - toured and recorded under the name Soft Works (initially called Soft Ware, debuting at the 2002 Progman Cometh Festival).

From late 2004 onwards, with John Etheridge replacing Holdsworth, they toured and recorded as Soft Machine Legacy. They released three albums: ''Live in Zaandam'' (2005), the studio album ''Soft Machine Legacy'' (2006) and ''Live at the New Morning'' (2006). Although Elton Dean died in February 2006, the band has continued with British saxophonist and flautist Theo Travis (formerly of Gong and The Tangent).

In December 2006, the new line-up recorded the album ''Steam'' in Jon Hiseman's studio, released by Moonjune Records in August 2007 before a European tour in autumn.

In 2008 Hopper was sidelined by leukemia and the band continued live performances with Fred Baker. Following Hopper's death in 2009, the band announced that it would continue with Babbington once again stepping into the role formerly held by Hopper.

Biography

Graham Bennett's Soft Machine biography, ''Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous'', was published in September 2005. In 2006 the book won an Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.

Awards

The album on which Jenkins first played with Soft Machine, ''Six'', won first place in the Melody Maker British Jazz Album of the Year award in 1973. Soft Machine was voted best small group in the Melody Maker jazz poll of 1974.

Discography

Studio albums

''The Soft Machine'' (ABC/Probe, 1968)

''Volume Two'' (ABC/Probe, 1969)

''Third'' (CBS, 1970)

''Fourth'' (CBS, 1971)

''Fifth'' (CBS, 1972)

''Six'' (CBS, 1973)

''Seven'' (CBS, 1973)

''Bundles'' (Harvest, 1975)

''Softs'' (Harvest, 1976)

''Rubber Riff'' (library music originally recorded for DeWolfe music in 1976 under Karl Jenkins' name - re-issued on CD as a Soft Machine title by Blueprint, 1994)

''Alive & Well: Recorded in Paris'' (Harvest, 1978)

''Land of Cockayne'' (EMI, 1981)

Live albums and compilations

''Rock Generation Vol. 7'' (one side only, 1967 demo recordings) (BYG, 1972)

''Rock Generation Vol. 8'' (one side only, 1967 demo recordings) (BYG, 1972) - This and the preceding entry were combined on subsequent releases, under such titles as ''Jet Propelled Photographs''. A 1976 release on Charly records was entitled ''At the Beginning''.

''Triple Echo'' (3 record compilation, 1967–1976) (Harvest, 1977) - Notable for containing both the rare big-band arrangement of ''Esther's Nose Job'' and the completely reworked "here at the BBC" version of the ''Moon in June'' lyrics.

''Live at the Proms 1970'' (Reckless, 1988)

''The Untouchable'' (compilation from ''Bundles'', ''Softs'', and ''Alive and Well'') (Castle Communications, 1990)

''The Peel Sessions'' (recorded 1969-1971) (Strange Fruit, 1991)

''BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert 1971'' (Windsong, 1993; also issued as ''Soft Machine & Heavy Friends'' by Hux, 2005)

''BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert 1972'' (Windsong, 1994; also issued as ''Softstage'' by Hux, 2005)

''Live at the Paradiso 1969'' (Voiceprint, 1995)

''Live in France'' (recorded 1972; also issued as ''Live in Paris'' by Cuneiform, 2004) (One Way, 1995)

''Spaced'' (recorded 1969) (Cuneiform, 1996)

''Virtually'' (recorded by Radio Bremen 1971) (Cuneiform, 1998)

''Noisette'' (recorded 1970) (Cuneiform, 2000)

''Backwards'' (recorded 1968-1970) (Cuneiform, 2002)

''Facelift'' (recorded 1970) (Voiceprint, 2002)

''BBC Radio 1967-1971'' (Hux, 2003)

''BBC Radio 1971-1974'' (Hux, 2003)

''Somewhere In Soho'' (recorded 1970) (Voiceprint, 2004)

''Breda Reactor'' (recorded 1970) (Voiceprint, 2005)

''Out-Bloody-Rageous'' (compilation, 1967–1973) (Sony, 2005)

''Floating World Live'' (recorded 1975) (MoonJune Records, 2006)

''Grides'' (CD/DVD Recorded 1970) (Cuneiform Records, 2006)

''Middle Earth Masters'' (CD Recorded 1967) (Cuneiform Records, 2006)

''Drop'' (with Phil Howard, recorded 1971) (MoonJune Records, 2008) ''Live at Henie Onstad Art Centre'' (recorded 1971) (Reel Recordings, 2009) ''NDR Jazz Workshop (Hamburg, Germany, May 17, 1973)'' (Cuneiform Records, 2010)

Singles

"Love Makes Sweet Music" / "Feelin' Reelin' Squeelin'" (Polydor UK, 1967)

"Joy of a Toy" / "Why Are We Sleeping?" (ABC Probe USA, 1968)

"Soft Space (part 1)" / "Soft Space (part 2)" (Harvest UK, 1977)

Line-ups timeline

This timeline does not include the last Soft Machine studio album Land of Cockayne (1981) which had:

Karl Jenkins – keyboards, synths

John Marshall – drums, percussion

with

Jack Bruce – bass

Allan Holdsworth – lead guitar

John Taylor – electric piano

Ray Warleigh – alto saxophone, bass flute

Dick Morrissey – tenor saxophone

Alan Parker – rhythm guitar

Stu Calver – backing vocals

John Perry – backing vocals

Tony Rivers – backing vocals

References

Further reading

Bennett, Graham: ''Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous''. London: SAF Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-946719-84-5 Biography

External links

Soft Machine section at Calyx website

Soft Machine - First period with Robert Wyatt

Soft Machine discography

Collapso - Canterbury Music Family Tree

The Soft Machine - A Chronology

Facelift Magazine - exploring the Canterbury scene and beyond

Strongcomet:

Interview with drummer/singer Robert Wyatt

Elton Dean - interview for Facelift Magazine

Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous biography

Hugh Hopper site (hosted by Burning Shed) including link to the Hopper Archives

Soft Machine page at Cuneiform Records

Noisette - The ultimate Soft Machine experience, music, pictures, movies, facts

Soft Machine at progarchives.com

Soft Machine at allaboutjazz.com

Category:Canterbury scene Category:Columbia Records artists Category:English progressive rock groups Category:Harvest Records artists Category:Jazz fusion ensembles Category:Jazz-rock ensembles Category:Musical groups established in 1966 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1984 Category:Psychedelic musical groups

ca:Soft Machine cs:Soft Machine da:Soft Machine de:Soft Machine es:Soft Machine fr:Soft Machine it:Soft Machine he:סופט מאשין ka:Soft Machine lmo:Soft Machine hu:Soft Machine nl:Soft Machine ja:ソフト・マシーン no:Soft Machine nn:Soft Machine pl:Soft Machine pt:Soft Machine ro:Soft Machine ru:Soft Machine sk:Soft Machine fi:Soft Machine sv:Soft Machine uk:Soft Machine

name	Allan Holdsworth
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
born	August 06, 1946Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
instrument	Electric guitar, SynthAxe, acoustic guitar, violin, vocals
genre	Jazz fusion, jazz, free jazz, instrumental rock, progressive rock
occupation	Musician, composer, producer
years active	1969–present
label	CTI, JMS–Cream, Luna Crack, I.O.U., Warner Bros., Enigma, Relativity, Intima, Legato, Restless, Polydor, Fred Bloggs, Gnarly Geezer, Megazoidal, Sony, Favored Nations, Alternity
associated acts	HoBoLeMa, UK, Level 42, Gong, Bruford, Soft Machine, The New Tony Williams Lifetime, Tempest, I.O.U., False Alarm
website	therealallanholdsworth.com
notable instruments	SynthAxeIbanez AH-10Ibanez AH-20Steinberger GL2TA-AHCarvin H2Carvin HF2 FatboyCharvel Allan Holdsworth }}

Allan Holdsworth (born 6 August 1946) is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but first drew attention for his work in jazz fusion. A player noted for his advanced knowledge of the fretboard and innovative playing, he is cited as an influence by such renowned rock and instrumental guitarists as Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Greg Howe, Shawn Lane, Richie Kotzen and John Petrucci. Frank Zappa once called Holdsworth "one of the most interesting guys on guitar on the planet".

Recording career

Early bands ('Igginbottom, Sunship, Tempest)

Holdsworth first recorded with the band 'Igginbottom on their lone release, ''Igginbottom's Wrench'' (later reissued under the group name of "Allan Holdsworth & Friends"), in 1969. In 1971, Holdsworth joined Sunship, an improvising band also featuring Alan Gowen, Laurie Baker and future King Crimson percussionist Jamie Muir. The band played live but never recorded any records.

In the early 1970s Holdsworth joined the British progressive rock band Tempest, and performed on their self-titled debut studio album in 1973. His playing can also be heard on a live BBC Radio concert from the same year, which was released in 2005 as part of a Tempest compilation album entitled ''Anthology: Under the Blossom''.

Journeyman years (1974-1977)

Following his short tenure with Tempest, Holdsworth worked with various well-known progressive rock and jazz fusion artists. In 1974 he played on the Soft Machine studio album ''Bundles'' and with The New Tony Williams Lifetime on the ''Believe It'' album, an experience he was to prize. In 1976 he played with Gong (contributing to their ''Gazeuse'' and ''Expresso II'' albums) and with Jean-Luc Ponty on ''Enigmatic Ocean''.

In 1976, CTI Records released a recording of a rehearsal session, passing it off as an official recording, under the title of ''Velvet Darkness''. This angered Holdsworth, who says he still loathes the album intensely.

Bruford, UK, and other (1977-1979)

In 1977, Holdsworth was recruited by progressive rock drummer Bill Bruford to play most of the guitar on Bruford's first (and jazz fusion-influenced) solo album ''Feels Good to Me''.

Shortly afterwards, Bruford was recruited into a new, second-wave British progressive rock band - UK, which was fronted by Bruford's former King Crimson bandmate John Wetton. When Wetton recruited the virtuosic and classically-influenced Eddie Jobson (ex-Roxy Music/Frank Zappa) into UK on keyboards and violin, Bruford in turn recruited Holdsworth as a jazzier "counterweight". Both the Bruford and UK debut albums were released in early 1978, with the latter rapidly eclipsing the former in terms of profile and marketing. Holdsworth's second spell as a potential progressive rock star was as short as the first. Chafing at the more composed and predictable elements to UK's music, he objected to being expected to play the same solos every night. Despite his musical fluidity and virtuosity, this approach did not suit John Wetton, who fired him from the band. Bruford quit in sympathy or was also fired (depending on accounts). Holdsworth would later stress that although he'd not enjoyed his time in the band he'd liked and respected everyone involved and that the problems were "purely musical".

While UK continued with different musicians, Bruford returned to the core lineup of his solo album as the band Bruford, and retained Holdsworth as its guitarist. The fist album under that name (''One Of A Kind'', recorded and released in early 1979) featured extensive contributions by Holdsworth, but the guitarist was by now tired of being a sideman and decided to follow his own course. Following the band's first British tour, Holdsworth quit, although not without reluctance.

1980s

Holdsworth's next significant collaborator was jazz pianist Gordon Beck, with whom he first played on Beck's ''Sunbird'' album in 1979. Their first proper collaboration, ''The Things You See'', followed in 1980, which was a largely similar effort without percussion or bass. Both musicians would later work together again in the decades to come. Soon afterwards, Holdsworth joined up with drummer Gary Husband and bassist Paul Carmichael as a trio, in what became known as False Alarm. This was to be Holdsworth's first outing as a bandleader and, after the acquisition of former Tempest singer Paul Williams, the band was renamed I.O.U. Their self-titled debut album, ''I.O.U.'', was released independently in 1982, followed by a mainstream reissue through Enigma Records in 1985.

Immediately after ''I.O.U.'''s release, Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen brought Holdsworth to the attention of Warner Bros. Records executive Mo Ostin. Van Halen had previously enthused about Holdsworth in a 1980 issue of ''Guitar Player'' magazine, saying "That guy is bad! He's fantastic; I love him", and that Holdsworth was "[t]he best, in my book". This resulted in the Warner Bros. release of ''Road Games'' in 1983. It was produced by longtime Van Halen executive producer Ted Templeman, and received a Grammy Award nomination in 1984. Holdsworth, however, has always disliked the EP because of various creative issues which arose with Templeman. At the time, the latest incarnation of the I.O.U. band consisted of drummer Chad Wackerman (who would become a regular Holdsworth bandmember for the next three decades) and bassist Jeff Berlin. Former Cream singer Jack Bruce provided vocal duties, as well as a returning Paul Williams.

Having relocated permanently to Southern California and acrimoniously parted ways with Warner Bros., Holdsworth signed to Enigma for the 1985 release of ''Metal Fatigue'' (along with the aforementioned ''I.O.U.'' reissue). It was at this time that Flim & the BB's bassist Jimmy Johnson joined the band and, like Wackerman, has remained a consistent bandmember to this day. Making his last appearance on vocals was Paul Williams, with whom Holdsworth claims to have fallen out due to the selling of live bootlegs by the former.

The ''Atavachron'' album in 1986 was a landmark, in that it was the first to feature Holdsworth's work with a brand new instrument named the SynthAxe. This unusually designed MIDI controller (albeit not a guitar synthesizer) would become a staple of Holdsworth's playing for the next fifteen years, during which he would effectively become the public face of the instrument. The next year saw a fourth album, ''Sand'', which featured no vocals and showcased further SynthAxe experimentation. A second collaboration with Gordon Beck followed in 1988, with ''With a Heart in My Song''.

In the late 1980s, Holdsworth set up his own recording studio—The Brewery—in San Diego, California, which would become one of the recording locations for all of his studio albums beginning with ''Secrets'' (1989) and throughout the 1990s. In a 2005 interview, however, he stated that he no longer owned the studio following his divorce in 1999. The aforementioned ''Secrets'' introduced pianist Steve Hunt, who went on to play keyboard on two further albums, and as a member of Holdsworth's touring band.

1990s

A collaboration in 1990 with fusion guitarist Frank Gambale came about in the form of ''Truth in Shredding'', an ambitious studio project put together by Mark Varney (brother of Shrapnel Records founder Mike Varney) through his Legato Records label. In December of that year, following the death of Level 42 guitarist Alan Murphy in 1989, Holdsworth was recruited by the band to play as a guest musician during a series of concerts at London's Hammersmith Odeon. With former I.O.U. partner Gary Husband now being the drummer for Level 42, these factors all led to Holdsworth contributing guitarwork on five tracks on their 1991 album, ''Guaranteed''.

Holdsworth's first solo album of the decade was 1992's ''Wardenclyffe Tower'', which continued to feature the SynthAxe but also displayed his newfound interest in self-designed baritone guitars (built by luthier Bill DeLap). With the release of ''Hard Hat Area'' in 1994, Holdsworth's touring band for that and the following year was composed of Steve Hunt, Gary Husband and bassist Skúli Sverrisson. A collaboration in 1996 with brothers Anders and Jens Johansson resulted in the hard-edged funky, bluesy, odd time signature-laden ''Heavy Machinery''. In the same year, he was once again joined by Gordon Beck on ''None Too Soon'', which featured interpretations of a selection of his favourite jazz standards, including The Beatles' Norwegian Wood.

2000s

The decade began positively with the deeply jazz-orientated ''The Sixteen Men of Tain'' in 2000, but it turned out to be Holdsworth's last album recorded at The Brewery. Immediately afterwards, he abruptly slowed down his solo output due to events within his personal life. A pair of official live albums, ''All Night Wrong'' and ''Then!'', were released in 2002 and 2003, respectively, along with a double compilation album, ''The Best of Allan Holdsworth: Against the Clock'', in 2005. His eleventh album, ''Flat Tire: Music for a Non-Existent Movie'', was released in 2001 and remains his most recent studio effort. According to Holdsworth, a new studio album entitled ''Snakes and Ladders'' was slated for a 2008 release on guitarist Steve Vai's Favored Nations label, but as of 2011 this has not come about. Further new material featuring Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Johnson was also said to be in the works. In a 2010 interview, he again claimed to have enough material for two albums, which he planned to begin recording after a show in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Throughout the latter half of the decade, he toured both North America and Europe extensively, and has played as a guest on albums by numerous artists: most notably with former Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian on ''Mythology'' (2004) and ''Quantum'' (2007); the latter with Sherinian's progressive metal group Planet X. In 2006, he performed with pianist Alan Pasqua, Chad Wackerman and bassist Jimmy Haslip as part of a live tribute act in honour of late drummer Tony Williams. A DVD (''Live at Yoshi's'') and a double album (''Blues for Tony'') were released in 2007 and 2009, respectively. Throughout 2008–2010, he toured with drummers Terry Bozzio and Pat Mastelotto, and bassist Tony Levin as HoBoLeMa, a supergroup playing improvised experimental music.

Compositions and style

Holdsworth's solo compositions are primarily instrumental, but vocals were prominent on all his 1980s albums except ''Sand''. Two of his most recurring singers were Paul Williams (featured on ''I.O.U.'', ''Road Games'' and ''Metal Fatigue'') and Rowanne Mark (''Atavachron'' and ''Secrets''). Additionally, he himself sang on '''Igginbottom's Wrench'' and ''The Things You See''. In his early career he occasionally played violin (on ''Velvet Darkness'', ''Sunbird'', ''The Things You See'' and ''I.O.U.'') and acoustic guitar (on ''Velvet Darkness'', ''U.K.'', ''Gazeuse'' and ''Metal Fatigue''), but claims to not be proficient at the latter; this is due to it being percussive, and hence a lack of desire to play such an instrument.

He has a distinctive playing style that involves a strong scalar sense, combining elements of jazz and progressive rock. The harmonic structure of his pieces can be highly abstruse, with frequently shifting tonal centres, and his soloing follows from a self-taught advanced modal framework derived directly from his unusually-voiced chords. His phrasing almost always features striking yet subtle transitions between notes that often work to defeat a listener's expections of consonance and dissonance, with wide and unpredictable intervallic leaps. Whilst soloing, he predominantly uses various legato techniques such as slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs (the latter being a personalised method which works more akin to a 'reversed' hammer-on); all of which result in an extremely fluid lead sound. One of the reasons for his renowned emphasis on legato, as opposed to picking, stems from a desire to make the sound between picked and legato notes indistinguishable.

Another of his most identifiable traits is the use of rich, fingerpicked chords (often awash with delay, chorus and other complex effects), which are articulated and sustained using volume swells to create sounds reminiscent of the horn and saxophone. He has said that he prefers both of the aforementioned to the guitar, which was not his first choice of instrument upon receiving one from his father when beginning to play. It was because of this unfamiliarity with the guitar, combined with attempting to make it sound more like a saxophone, that he originally began to use legato without realising that it was not a common method of playing at the time. Furthermore, he was influenced greatly by such saxophonists as John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Michael Brecker and Charlie Parker, whilst some of his favourite guitarists were Django Reinhardt, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Raney, Charlie Christian and Hank Marvin.

Equipment

Over the course of his career, Holdsworth has worked with many different guitar manufacturers in a lifelong quest to evolve his unique sound. From the late 1960s and through to his time spent with Tony Williams in the mid-1970s, his main instrument was the Gibson SG. He then switched to playing custom Fender Stratocaster guitars that were modified with humbucker pickups. He continued to play this type of design in the early 1980s, developing custom models with Charvel and Jackson that feature on ''I.O.U.'' and ''Road Games''.

In 1984, he developed his first signature guitars with Ibanez, known as the AH-10 and AH-20. These instruments have a semi-hollow body made from basswood with a hollow cavity underneath the pickguard, and can be heard on ''Metal Fatigue'' and ''Atavachron''. In 1987, he began his long association with Steinberger guitars, which are made from graphite and carbon fibre, and distinctively have no headstock. With designer Ned Steinberger, he developed the GL2TA-AH signature model. In the 1990s, he started playing customised headless guitars made by luthier Bill DeLap, including an extended-range baritone model which had a 38-inch scale length. However, he now only owns one of the latter instruments (with a 34-inch scale). He has also developed a line of signature guitars with Carvin, including the semi-hollow H2 in 1996 and the completely hollow HF2 Fatboy in 1999.

On his 1986 release, ''Atavachron'', Holdsworth first recorded with the SynthAxe; a fretted, guitar-like MIDI controller with keys and string triggers instead of a strung neck, and a tube that dynamically alters note volume and tone via breathing (similar to a talk box). Sound-wise, he uses patches which are mainly Oberheim synthesizers, as he considers them to be "great sounds". Although he has used the SynthAxe on all his solo releases since ''Atavachron'', and still enjoys using his two remaining ones in the studio, he says he no longer wishes to make it such an integral part of his playing—especially live—mainly because of it being so rare, and difficult to maintain and repair as a result.

Personal life

Holdsworth has lived in California permanently since the early 1980s, and often mentions cycling as one of his favourite pastimes. He is also a keen aficionado of beer, with a particular fondness for Northern English ale. Such is his taste for ale that he went as far as experimenting with brewing his own in the 1990s and inventing a specialised beer pump—"The Fizzbuster"—which, in his own words, creates "a beautiful creamy head". He has three children with ex-wife Claire named Louise, Samuel (named after Allan's father) and Emily; all three live in Southern California. He has a daughter from his first marriage to Angela Slater named Lynne, who resides in England. He became a Grandfather in December of 2010 when his daughter Louise gave birth to a baby girl named Rori.

Discography

Studio albums

1976: ''Velvet Darkness''

1982: ''I.O.U.''

1983: ''Road Games'' (EP)

1985: ''Metal Fatigue''

1986: ''Atavachron''

1987: ''Sand''

1989: ''Secrets

1992: ''Wardenclyffe Tower''

1993: ''Hard Hat Area''

1996: ''None Too Soon''

2000: ''The Sixteen Men of Tain''

2001: ''Flat Tire: Music for a Non-Existent Movie''

2005: ''The Best of Allan Holdsworth: Against the Clock'' (compilation)

Live albums

1997: ''I.O.U. Live''

2002: ''All Night Wrong''

2003: ''Then!''

Collaboration albums

1980: ''The Things You See'' – with Gordon Beck

1988: ''With a Heart in My Song'' – with Gordon Beck

1990: ''Truth in Shredding'' – with Frank Gambale/The Mark Varney Project

1996: ''Heavy Machinery'' – with Jens Johansson and Anders Johansson

2009: ''Blues for Tony'' – with Alan Pasqua, Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Haslip (live double album)

Other album appearances

1969: '''Igginbottom's Wrench'' – 'Igginbottom

1972: ''Belladona'' – Nucleus

1973: ''Tempest'' – Tempest

1975: ''Bundles'' – Soft Machine

1975: ''Believe It'' – The New Tony Williams Lifetime

1976: ''Million Dollar Legs'' – The New Tony Williams Lifetime

1976: ''Gazeuse! – Gong

1976: ''Capricorn Princess'' – Esther Phillips

1977: ''Re-Touch & Quartet'' – John Stevens

1977: ''Enigmatic Ocean'' – Jean-Luc Ponty

1978: ''Expresso II'' – Gong

1978: ''Feels Good to Me'' – Bruford

1978: ''U.K.'' – U.K.

1978: ''Live In Boston'' – U.K.

1978: ''Touching On'' – John Stevens

1979: ''One of a Kind'' – Bruford

1979: ''Time is the Key'' – Pierre Moerlen's Gong

1979: ''Sunbird'' – Gordon Beck

1980: ''Conversation Piece'' – John Stevens

1981: ''Land of Cockayne'' – Soft Machine

1983: ''Individual Choice'' – Jean-Luc Ponty

1983: ''Retouch'' – John Stevens

1984: ''Transatlantic'' – Jon St. James

1986: ''Soma'' – Soma

1986: ''Master Strokes 1978-1985'' – Bill Bruford

1986: ''Change of Address'' – Krokus

1986: ''Fast Impressions'' – Jon St. James

1988: ''Radio Free Albemuth'' – Stuart Hamm

1988: ''If This Bass Could Only Talk'' – Stanley Clarke

1988: ''No Borders'' – Carl Verheyen

1988: ''The Distance Between'' – Strange Advance

1989: ''Attack of the Neon Shark'' – Alex Masi

1989: ''A Question of Time'' – Jack Bruce

1989: ''Guitar's Practicing Musicians'' – various artists

1990: ''Silent Will'' – Andrea Marcelli

1990: ''Blue Tav'' – Steve Tavaglione

1991: ''Love in Peace'' – Paz

1991: ''Forty Reasons'' – Chad Wackerman

1991: ''Guaranteed'' – Level 42

1992: ''Lone Ranger'' – Jeff Watson

1993: ''The View'' – Chad Wackerman

1993: ''Come Together: Guitar Tribute to the Beatles'' – various artists

1995: ''Suffer'' – Gongzilla

1995: ''Oneness'' – Andrea Marcelli

1995: ''Worlds Away & Back'' – Strange Advance

1996: ''Stare'' – Gorky Park

1997: ''From Your Heart and Your Soul'' – Steve Hunt

1997: ''Blue Tav'' – Steve Tavaglione

2002: ''Pray for Rain'' – Atlantis

2003: ''BBC Radio 1971-1974'' – Soft Machine

2003: ''Abracadabra'' – Soft Works

2004: ''Sonic Undertow'' – Riptyde

2004: ''Mythology'' – Derek Sherinian

2004: ''Book of the Dead'' – K2

2005: ''The State of Things'' – David Garfield & Friends

2005: ''Nebula'' – David Hines

2005: ''Anthology: Under the Blossom'' – Tempest

2006: ''Deconstruction of a Postmodern Musician'' – Corrado Rustici

2006: ''Floating World Live'' – Soft machine

2007: ''Prowlin''' – Dan Carlin & Friends

2007: ''Quantum'' – Planet X

2007: ''The Acatama Experience'' – Jean-Luc Ponty

2007: ''Rock Goes to College'' – Bruford

2008: ''Progasaurus'' – Chris Buck

2008: ''Everyone Knows My Drinking, No One Knows My Thirst'' – Eric Keyes

2009: ''Highway Star'' – Snew

2009: ''The Early Years'' – Paul Korda

2009: ''Propensity'' – John Stevens and Danny Thompson (originally recorded in 1978)

2010: ''Living It Up'' – Level 42

2011: ''Dirty & Beautiful: Volume I'' – Gary Husband

VHS video releases

1992: ''REH Instructional: Allan Holdsworth'' (guitar instructional, reissued on DVD format in 2007)

1997: ''Drums & Improvisation'' – Gary Husband (Holdsworth is interviewed and contributes to three songs)

DVD video releases

2002: ''Live at the Galaxy Theatre''

2005: ''Carvin: 60 Years in the Making'' (features an extended interview with Holdsworth, amongst others)

2006: ''Rock Goes to College'' – Bruford

2007: ''Live at Yoshi's''

Books

Transcriptions and sheet music. Transcriptions, sheet music and accompanying CD. Reference tables and diagrams.

References

External links

Official website

Discography at Discogs

Jazz Guitar Online: "Allan Holdsworth's Guitar Gear"

MP3 clip of a SynthAxe solo on ''Radio Free Albemuth'' at Guitar Nine Records

Allan Holdsworth Style Legato Pattern

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:English jazz guitarists Category:Jazz fusion guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:Level 42 members Category:Soft Machine members Category:People from Bradford Category:Canterbury scene

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