Review - Allan Holdsworth Trio, Amsterdam, May 15th, 2000.
"HOLDSWORTH SHOWN TO FULL ADVANTAGE".
(De Volksrant newspaper, 17th. May, by Remco Takken.)
"At least for 15 years the British fusion-guitarist Allan Holdsworth begins every concert with the same words: "Hello, I would like to introduce you to the chaps". Also his music hasn't changed in all those years, the Melkweg was nonetheless packed with youngsters who preferred to be in a warm concerthall instead of sitting on a sunny terrace.
Holdsworth brings out new CD's sporadically, but they are, although they are good products, shadows of the recordings made in the 80's when he experimented with a guitar synthesizer called the Synthaxe. Live he doesn't play that instrument anymore. Holdsworth replaced the Synthaxe for the more reliable Carvin-guitar, with which he approaches the famous singing sound of the seventies.
Despite all that he still remains one of the most melodic and inventive fusion-composers. For example, the composition "Looking Glass" which gave space to free phrasing a la Frank Zappa with beautiful complex chords. Gary Husband proved to be the most subtle and free drummers Holdsworth ever played with. The fans discussed the differences between Husband and other drummers such as Chad Wackerman and Gary Novak.
When the first excitement in the audience about this new group was cooled down, the ballads in the second set came to full glory. Husband was given full space and not only in the long drumsolo in "Letters of Marque". The guitar-player wasn't confused when the drummer played something else than a fourquarter beat, but played his solo's which moved perfectly with the melodious baselines of Jimmy Johnson.
Allan Holdsworth proved that his true strength is on stage where he is testing his new pieces and also play's free improvisations; that is something that is almost a taboo on his studio-recordings."