Nucleus - Belladonna

For Sean-E Dawg. Nucleus was a cornerstone of British Jazz Rock, who are largely unsung nowadays, but in the early 70's they released a slew of beautiful, atmospheric Fusion, in the best tradition of Miles' "In A Silent Way" and Bitches Brew", and also Weather Report's first two albums, masterpieces of the genre. The group was led by Trumpet player and Miles biographer Ian Carr, and an impressive number of Brit Jazz luminaries played in it, including some that went to play in Soft Machine's later incarnations. Their post 70's work is forgettable, but at the peak of their powers this group was bringing the hot shit. In this one Allan Holdsworth plays guitar, never on wank mode, providing texture, colour, direction and fury when necessary, but never forgetting this is a groupmind thang.

Personnel:

Bass [Guitar] - Roy Babbington
Drums - Clive Thacker
Engineer - Roger Wake
Guitar - Allan Holdsworth
Percussion - Trevor Tomkins
Piano [Electric] - Dave MacRae, Gordon Beck
Saxophone [Tenor, Soprano], Flute [Alto, Bamboo] - Brian Smith
Trumpet, Flugelhorn - Ian Carr

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Tony Williams' Lifetime - Lifetime: A Collection

Raul asked for some Holdsworth features, and we start with this comp. Be warned: this is far from the Lifetime's best work (which will be uploaded later on) but still better than 90% of the tepid fuzak that was being released at the time, including Pastorius-era Weather Report (sorry Jaco nuthuggers). So here it is.

"This collection, a combination of the two releases Believe It and Million Dollar Legs, features what was known as The "New" Tony Williams Lifetime. Long gone were the original members of the trailblazing group: John McLaughlin, Larry Young, and eventually Jack Bruce. But it was six years later, and Tony was still pushing the concept. Many of his fusion contemporaries were already finding the commercial success that Williams was still searching for. For the most part, Tony was trying too hard to please, and it showed. The two "New" Lifetime records were uneven at best. Parts of Million Dollar Legs are simply unlistenable. But Williams's immense talent and the contributions of the young and exciting guitarist Allan Holdsworth provided a few outstanding performances, among them "Red Alert." Composed by bassist Newton, "Red Alert" is anxious and compelling. In unison, Newton and Holdsworth open with urgent low-register lines. The players step into a higher register and then back again. Williams's insistent pounding is like a rapid heartbeat. Pasqua's electric piano serves as a bit of a salve, as he is not asked to be as demonstrative as his band mates. Meanwhile, Holdsworth lets loose with synthesizer runs. Of course, he was not playing synthesizer! Holdsworth was still in the early stages of his illustrious career, but you could hear in his solos that he was going to be different. "Red Alert" is both a demanding tune for the player and a warning to the listener. Be prepared to be knocked over." - Walter Kolosky

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Allan Holdsworth @ Inter Metro 2/19/2009

First of all I want to invite my fellow chasm filler. bloggers to post any material featuring this artist. Ozstriker I'm talking to you!

Allan Holdworth will be giving a class next Wednesday February 18th at 2:30 pm and will be playing live at the Inter Metro's theatre Thursday February 19th at 8:00pm.

"Allan Holdsworth (born August 6, 1946) is a British guitarist and composer. He has played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but is now best known for his work within the jazz fusion genre.
Holdsworth's first recording was with the band Igginbottom on their lone release, Igginbottom's Wrench, in 1969 (which was later reissued under the group name of "Allan Holdsworth & Friends"). In the early 1970s, he joined Tempest, upon which the albums Tempest (1973) and Living in Fear (1974) were released during his brief time spent with the band.
Following this, Holdsworth worked with various popular jazz fusion groups and artists, including Gong, Soft Machine, The New Tony Williams Lifetime, Jean-Luc Ponty and, later in the decade, the progressive rock band UK."