After the gig  ......

Every now and then a gig comes along that is just awesome - this was one of them.

There are not enough superlatives to describe the amazing quality of Allan Holdsworth and his two fellow musicians.

Some call it jazz-rock, some jazz-fusion, some even acid-jazz and we also heard it was jazz-prog-rock.

Allan Holdsworth is a premier league guitarist who has incredible technique. Jimmy Johnson is the consume bass guitarist and is also a premier league player.

When you hear Chad Whackerman playing the drums, you realise that they are a finely tuned instrument rather than the usual bit of skin thumped by two bits of wood. Chad is well and truly in the premier league.

The three of them together, well what can you say, but those superlatives again - awesome, brilliant, amazing, incredible and so on.

If you are not into jazz-rock, that's ok, but do yourself a massive favour. When Allan Holdsworth returns next year, get along to see him. Even if it's just the first half, get along and see the mast at work. If you love music, you will greatly appreciate seeing this outstanding guitarist.

We are absolutely delighted to welcome such a master musician to Newcastle. We will provide more details soon about this gig .....

Allan Holdsworth

Master guitarist, pushing and transforming the boundaries of rock, fusion and jazz.

Allan Holdsworth is widely regarded by fans and contemporary musicians as one of the 20th century's most prominent guitarists. He is one of a handful of musicians who has consistently proven himself as an innovator in between and within the worlds of rock and jazz music. Many of music's best-known instrumental masters cite Holdsworth as that rare and shining voice, a legendary player who continues to push the outer limits of instrumental technique and the electric guitar's range of tonal and textural possibilities.

Beyond his ability in improvising mercurial solos and sculpting the guitar's voice into an ever expanding range of textures and colours, Holdsworth has dedicated his energies to develop many different aspects of guitar technology. This has included new “baritone” variations of the instrument, his own custom 6-string designs, the invention of electronic components for the recording studio and exploring the possibilities of guitar based synthesizer controllers.

Holdsworth's career brought him to international audiences suddenly in the early 1970s, when he joined drummer John Hiseman's short lived, but much acclaimed “progressive” rock band, Tempest. By 1975 Holdsworth had developed a reputation as one of the best, underrated guitarists in what was then the avant garde of English instrumental music ensembles, the legendary group, Soft Machine. Holdsworth's trademark sound is evident with a technique that routinely soars with supersonic intensity and one of its earliest available samplings can be heard on the 1974 Soft Machine studio release, Bundles.

While his reputation in Soft Machine attracted international audiences, he also gained the attention of one of jazz's greatest drummers, the late Tony Williams, known for his pivotal role in bringing Miles Davis to explore rock based riffs and motifs in an improvisational context.

In the late 70’s Holdsworth began to develop his own trio with drummer Gary Husband and bassist Paul Carmichael, which begun Holdsworth's first touring band as a leader, the now-celebrated IOU band. The distinctively “Holdsworthian” music is an enigmatic style that continues to invert, push and transform the boundaries of more conventional rock, fusion, and jazz forms.

In the past decade Holdsworth has varied his music career, as well as engineering and inventing electronic sound processing tools, including The Harness. He is without doubt in a class of his and it is all too rare to catch him in the Northeast, but Friday 30^th November is the date that he will be joined by Jimmy Johnson on bass and top drummer Chad Wackerman for a gig at the Cluny.

There's never been a shortage of media attention or acclaim for Holdsworth's accomplishments and originality. An inductee of Guitar Player Magazine's Hall of Fame, Holdsworth is a five-time winner in their readers' poll

If you would like more info, please check out  www.therealallanholdsworth.com