Allan holdsworth (1946 - 2017)

[Boilk]

The great Bradford-born guitarist and composer Allan Holdsworth has died at just 70. Many in the UK will recall him from his 1970s stints with Soft Machine, Gong, Tony Williams' Lifetime, Bruford and UK, but there's also a substantial catalogue of about a dozen studio or live albums as band leader and a plethora of guest appearances. You can usually meaure the stature of an artiste by the number of peers who cite an influence and/or reverence, and Holdsworth's list of admirers reads like is a who's who of the rock-cum-jazz worlds including just about every major guitarist from Pat Metheny and Johh Mclaughlin to Eddie van Halen. His fluency and fluidity on the fretboard had him compared to John Coltrane - very apt when you hear him. At the same time he had a highly individual and very chromatic harmonic palette - somewhat neo-Messiaenic. Lucky enough to see him twice, once at Ronnie Scott's. R.I.P.

In mellow jazz mode:

[Boilk]

And by contrast to the above, in a typically quirky "rock-cum-fusion" mood:

[Serial_Apologist]

I always felt Allan to have represented the next step after McLaughlin, whom he greatly admired, few having attained his technique or sophistication. Perhaps Mary Halvorsen in the States and, over here, Steve Topping, and to a lesser degree John Etheridge. Here's Topping, for those unfamiliar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocmM71cm5g4

Avoiding mention of Derek Bailey () there are many good guitar players around today, with elements of A. Holdsworth as part of their essentially post-Wes styles of playing, such as Mike Walker, John Parricelli and Ant Law, refuelling the mainstream with what they've taken from his inventiveness.