Myself and a couple of friends went to check out the Allan Holdsworth/Alan Pasqua Group at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollyweird Friday night.

Whatever you do, don't ask me for a setlist. This is one of those performance where my attention was in macro-mode.
I didn't care what they played as long as they kept on playing. They could've played Nursery Rhymes all night and it would've been killer.

Everyone in the band is a master-musician with numerous all-star credits (too many to list all)...

Alan Pasqua - keyboards...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Pasqua3.png[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Pasqua4.png[/img:$uid]

...(Tony Williams, Joe Williams, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana along with many Pop sessions)


Jimmy Haslip - bass...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Haslip1.png[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Haslip2.png[/img:$uid]

...(The Yellowjackets, Anita Baker, Flora Purim, Bruce Hornsby, Gino Vannelli, Brenda Russell, Sadao Watanabe, etc.)


Chad Wackerman - drums...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Chad1.png[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Chad2.png[/img:$uid]

...(Frank Zappa, Bill Watrous, Barbra Streisand, Maynard Ferguson, Shirley Bassey)


Allan Holdsworth - guitar...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/AH-fl.png[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/AH-fl2.png[/img:$uid]

...(Tony Williams, Soft Machine, Jean-Luc Ponty, Gong, Bill Bruford, Level 42)


We had dinner there and our table was directly in front of Allan...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Seats1.png[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Seats2.png[/img:$uid]

...Seating perspective


Allan was having some trouble with his volume during the 1st set...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Breaktime.png[/img:$uid]

...so during intermission there was an attempt to suss it out.

He tried to keep it light and at one point said to the audience, "I don't know what happened. Last night it was perfect...but this sucks."


During intermission I took the opportunity to temporarily go into micro-mode.
Here are some shots of Alan's guitar rig...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Rig2.png[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Rig1.png[/img:$uid]

...His new Hughes & Kettner endorsement has him sporting a nice new zenTera rig.

The zenTera head has a cool but functional...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/spookyzenTera.png[/img:$uid]

...blue lit front panel that glows in the dark.

It was very impressive how he gets his signature singing sustain-for-days sound at such an incredibly low volume.
I'm sure his custom made headless Bill Delap (sealed/chambered) guitar (not a Steinberger folks but using their Trans-Trem bridge)
combined with his amp rig (not to mention his phenomenal playing ability) has a lot to do with it.

Based on the way the mics were set up, it looks like the zenTera head is used for leads and the 2 zenTera Combos
(stacked on top of the cabs) are used in stereo for rhythm.


Rack setup...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Rack1.png[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/Rack2.png[/img:$uid]

...TC 1140 Parametric EQ/Preamp - dbx Compressor - Yamaha DG1000 Digital Modeling Guitar Preamp


Sitting on top of the TC/dbx road case are 2...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/udstomp.gif[/img:$uid]

...Yamaha UD-Stomp processors. 1 used for rhythm delay and the other used for lead delay.
(My picture was pretty weak so I dl'd one from the Yamaha site.)

Rather than using an elaborate channel switching device...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/volumepedals.png[/img:$uid]

...he uses 2 volumes pedals to switch between the lead and rhythm rigs.


For all the bass players...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/SWRbassrig.png[/img:$uid]

...Jimmy Haslip's SWR rig and custom Keith Roscoe bass.



Although my seat had me perfectly positioned in front of Allan's amps,...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/AH-fl4.png[/img:$uid]

...his music stand was partially obscuring my view.


For the 2nd set, I made a strategic seating adjustment...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/AH1.png[/img:$uid][img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/AH2.png[/img:$uid][img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/AH3.png[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/AH2-1.png[/img:$uid][img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/AH2-2.png[/img:$uid][img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/AH2-3.png[/img:$uid]

...for unobstructed viewing.


Although I didn't get these shots perfectly in focus, they're probably my favorite Holdsworth shots of the evening...

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/portrait1b.png[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/Holdsworth-Pasqua/portrait2b.png[/img:$uid]

...as they capture his intense concentration while playing.


Since both Allan Holdsworth and Alan Pasqua have a connection to Tony Williams Lifetime, they performed stellar
arrangements of Proto-Cosmos and Red Alert.

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/tony_williams.jpg[/img:$uid]

...(Allan Holdsworth, Tony Newton, Alan Pasqua & the late Tony Williams.)




Don't miss the opportunity to catch this guy live.
For someone so extremely talented, he's one of the most humble and unassuming "gentlemen" you'd ever want to meet.
(imagine the exact opposite of an Yngwie Malmsteen)

As an example...

"Jimmy Haslip has also expressed great interest in doing a recording with this band and has told me that Allan is just ridiculous
in rehearsals playing incredible solos then spends the twenty minutes after rehearsals apologizing for how bad he played."
http://www.therealallanho...rrison.htm

... I'd love to play that poorly.


Just a night of great music played by a group of great musicians.
For those of you familiar with Allan Holdsworth, I don't have to tell you anything.
For those of you who aren't and are interested, this 2 disc comp...

[img:$uid]http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg700/g784/g78430rouct.jpg[/img:$uid]

...The Best of Allan Holdsworth - Against The Clock (with cuts selected by Allan) might be a good place to start.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431
[Edited 9/25/06 12:45pm]
[Edited 4/16/17 23:22pm]

Wow....awesome review, per usual.

You have a knack for sparking interest in whichever artist you are covering.....your obvious enthusiasm for good music and appreciation for true talent and technical acumen is catching....

Thanks again.....another artist of whom I know little, but would like to know more....

cubic61052 said:

Thanks and it was a great show.

The other thing that was so inspiring beyond the playing was that they were such nice people.
Very approachable and you never got "the bum's rush" when talking to them.

I'm sure you'd dig the music.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

If they ever make it to Atlanta, I'll be sure to check them out.

I admit you lost me with some of the technical jargon, but I got the gist....

Yeah, personable and approachable artists can make the concert/show and their music itself even more enjoyable....I can think of several musicians we know who could benefit from that message....

I'm glad you had such a great time....

cubic61052 said:

I did geek out a bit on the gear.
But there are a few musicians here that I thought would be interested in the new rig.

Tonight it's Jeff Beck.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Of course you just HAVE to rub it in.....

And I fully expect a blow-by-blow (ahem....you know what I mean) posted tomorrow complete with pics and geeky techie stuff....I love it...

...


Great review tA, Kool Pics!!!!!



....Lucky!!!!! ( )


I hope he comes this way soon, it's been a while!!! Btw I'm glad to see that DVDs are starting to show up recently, it's really something to see him in action... Ya know how he is, know he's not satisfied with many of his performances for some reason, But I'm glad he's not so uptight about it that he wouldn't allow them to be filmed....


Now, On to Mr Beck!!!!!




...

cubic61052 said:

Of course I did.

Not sure if i'll have the energy for an immediate review.
We'll see.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Come on now, old man....you can do it. (yikes....I'm cruisin' for a bruisin')

The boss says you have 'til Wednesday to deliver the review...and early tomorrow AM you will be back at your desk, ever diligent.

Seriously, I look forward to the Jeff Beck review...thanks for the effort! I can live vicariously through you, if nothing else.

paligap said:

Thank you sir.

One amazing differnce from the other times i've seen him is that he actually looked happy.
Even through the 1st set volume issue. This would be the band to get a DVD on for sure.

Speaking of being unsatisfied with his playing, you should read him going off about the Velvet Darkness release...

Is that something you'd like to do eventually? (record a live performance)

I would like to yeah! Especially with all the bootlegs. In fact, we were thinking about releasing an official bootleg record. Since there are so many bootlegs out there, we figured we might as well give the guys in the band a choice of what nights were okay as opposed to the ones which weren't. So Gary Husband recorded some gigs with his DAT player. Some are pretty good too. I mean they're live—that's the thing I like about them. They're not like the studio-live albums—in other words, you get a supposedly live album that sounds like the worst studio album you've heard in your life. That is definitely something I want to avoid. In fact, the microphone in the back of the room seems to be a good way to go for me. You always get that feeling of a live performance. From now on, I think we're going to carry DAT machines around and record gigs.

The single most frustrating thing for me, is to be in a situation where you can't get a record deal because for whatever reason they won't sign you up, but the same people will take complete advantage of you by bootlegging things and putting out other albums. Sony just did that with that old Velvet Darkness album. They re-released it, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to stop them right away. But they [the lawyers] stopped them eventually and they're not going to make that album anymore, because that whole project was a rip-off in the first place. Sony re-released it and packaged like a new album. So, those kind of things make me go crazy—they make me want to tear my hair out.

You had Velvet Darkness pulled?

It was no good. It was never any good. The way it was recorded, what happened to the musicians, the whole thing. It was a complete disaster. It was terrible at that time and that makes it terrible today. That album was never any good. And it's one thing to say I'll look back to that old I.O.U. album and go "Well, it sounds pretty old, and maybe I don't like it as much as the other stuff." But, the fact was that it was what it is then and it was okay then and everybody accepted that to be the fact at that time. That was not true of Velvet Darkness. That album was never fit to be released. Nobody got to hear anything they did. I never got a tape of anything that was recorded. And we were actually rehearsing in the studio and they were rolling the tape while we were rehearsing on the premise that we'd be able to keep recording and also check things out, but that never happened. At the end of that day, the guy said "Thanks, see ya!" That's why a lot of those tunes don't have any endings—they were rehearsals! That was a complete rip-off.

Are you getting any royalties from any pressings?

No, none. I never saw anything from that. And that's the main reason they got it stopped. They didn't have a contract. They didn't have any publishing. They didn't have the rights to anything. This happens all the time! There are bootlegs all over the place—exactly the same thing.

What's surprising is that Velvet Darkness was released on a major label.

Well, I think they bought the whole CTI catalog from someone. That album's been bootlegged three times, and each time I think "Great, that's the end of that one." But it showed up again—it keeps showing up! But now that it's owned by a big label, they had to produce all the paperwork and they couldn't. So, that's how we got 'em. They had no paperwork for anything to say they could do any of that stuff. But there's no way you can stop them. We had a bootleg video out in Japan. I had a contract that said this could not be used. I actually have a contract and it just came out! The video just came out! It's called Tokyo Dreams. What it was is we knew the cameras were going to be there, but we were supposed to be able to view it first. It was supposed to be completely up to us whether we wanted it used it or not. But of course that was not the truth. They lied and they put it out and it was done in a really sneaky way.

...I think he's a tad pissed about that one.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Have you heard Velvet Darkness? Is it really as crude as he describes, or is his perpetual dis-ease and desire for perfection about his own work rearing its ugly head?

Sounds like the big guys once again trying to screw the little ones...

Very nice review tA and great pics too.

Thanks for the heads-up!

I just snatched up some tickets for the 10:00 show at Yoshi's on Saturday night. While I was at it, I picked up some tickets to see the John Patitucci Trio (w/ Larry Koonse and Brian Blade) at Yohshi's on October 11th.

Stax said:

You're gonna love it. And what a great room to see them in.
Make sure you do a review on the Patitucci gig.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

cubic61052 said:

My friends and I used to listen to it and thought it was great.

Allan is a perfectionist and more importantly extremely self conscience about his playing.
Hard to believe seeing how good he is, but that's one of the things that so amazing about him personally. His humility.

Check the comment from bassist Jimmy Haslip in my original post. He just never thinks he's playing well enough.
Actually a good trait for a musician just as long as you don't let it debilitate you.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Nice.

I love Catalina! I saw Max Roach there many moons ago.

I haven't listened to Allan Holdsworth aside from some stuff he did with Stanley Clarke (which I was really impressed with), but he's one of those names you hear a lot.

Haslip plays with Robben Ford on the Jing Chi Record. Actually I haven't fallen in love with the record, but the playing is phenomenal.

I may have listen to some Holdsworth, expand my own range perhaps.

NDRU said:

You'd enjoy it.

He's a phenomenal soloist but over the years i've become more impressed with his composition and chord skills.

A totally unique and (outside of other musicians) relatively unknown talent.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

carlcranshaw said:

I guess he prefers the DeLap instrument over the Carvin "Fatboys".
Interviews say that they're (Carvin) working on a new design.

Your Jeff Beck wish will be granted.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

well, you weren't lyin. the yoshi's show was smokin'. monsters, all of them.

thanks for the heads up.

btw - yor were right. they were shooting a DVD tonight. six cameras. it should be nice.

Stax said:

Glad you got to catch them. I know they were vicious.

Did you yell out STAX for the DVD?


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

no, but some fool did yell "freebird."

Stax said:

(Freebird dude) ->


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431