Allan Holdsworth
Jazz fusion took shape in the late 1960s and 1970s as musicians began blending the harmonic complexity of jazz with the electric energy of rock, creating a genre that demanded serious technical and compositional ability from its players. Allan Holdsworth, born on August 6, 1946, in Bradford, England, became one of the guitarists and composers working within that space, also crossing into progressive rock over the course of his career.
Holdsworth brought to jazz fusion and progressive rock a guitarist's and composer's perspective that sat somewhat apart from the mainstream of either genre. He worked not only as a performer but also as a record producer and music educator, making contributions on multiple sides of the music business. His British roots shaped his early formation, though he later died on April 15, 2017, in Vista, California, suggesting a transatlantic career that carried him well beyond his Bradford beginnings. Throughout his working life he engaged with jazz and rock simultaneously rather than treating them as separate pursuits, and his role as a music educator meant he passed on that approach to other musicians directly.
The Library of Congress catalogues him under the authorized label "Holdsworth, Allan," a mark of the archival attention his output attracted. That institutional recognition, modest as it may sound, reflects the fact that his recorded and compositional work was considered worth preserving and indexing as a body of work in its own right.
Quotes by Allan Holdsworth
Jazz is something that's constantly changing. Its sole purpose is to let people improvise, to let them solo differently each time they play. And that's always been what I like best.
The problem we have is that, some people call it 'too rock' to play on a jazz station, and it's 'too jazz' to play on a rock station. So it's difficult. It's difficult to make it playing this kind of music.
I was working with another major label after Warner Bros, and they were telling me who to hire as musicians, what kind of music to play, what producer to use. I mean, what's the point of putting me on the record?
Standing and playing next to Tony Williams was pretty amazing. One of the things I learned about being a band leader from Tony was that he would never, ever tell me what to play or do.
Most of the musicians I play with - aside from the form and structure of the music - the interpretation is up to them.
In essence, I feel I'm more jazz guitar player because I write vehicles geared for improvisation.
I wanted to be a music fan who just listens to music. I never wanted to be musician. I didn't gravitate toward playing.
I had always wanted to compose music for movies, but had never been given the opportunity.
As soon as I figured out I didn't know anything about music, I was OK. It's when I thought I could learn something that I was in trouble.
Perhaps since I have been using the Synthaxe, it might have made it easier for people to listen to me, in a funny kind of way it takes for things to happen.