Devil is in the detail as 'first book' on Allan Holdsworth is published

Interested in a hugely influential UK jazz innovator… a godfather of prog-jazz to players down the generations such as Chris Montague… admired by the daddy of them all John McLaughlin… a player who has not had his work explored beyond the pages of …

Published: 14 Apr 2020. Updated: 3 years.

Interested in a hugely influential UK jazz innovator… a godfather of prog-jazz to players down the generations such as Chris Montague… admired by the daddy of them all John McLaughlin… a player who has not had his work explored beyond the pages of magazines much over the years? If yes to all the above Devil Take the Hindmost – The Otherworldly Music of Allan Holdsworth by Ed Chang, who runs the voluminous Holdsworth blog Thread Of Lunacy, is certainly worth your close attention.

Published by Jazz in Britain, who claim the tome is ''The first ever book on guitarist Allan Holdsworth'' at 412 pages long – the devil looks to be necessarily in the copious detail.

Link to purchase the book.

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Swallow Tales lead-off track streams

As discussed back on 6 April John Scofield has a new Steve Swallow-themed album coming out soon. 'Hullo Bolinas' from the album is now streaming. Reactions? Well the piece, in 3/4 time, has an engagingly laidback feel, drummer Bill Stewart …

Published: 14 Apr 2020. Updated: 3 years.

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As discussed back on 6 April John Scofield has a new Steve Swallow-themed album coming out soon. 'Hullo Bolinas' from the album is now streaming.

Reactions? Well the piece, in 3/4 time, has an engagingly laidback feel, drummer Bill Stewart shuffling along while Sco delivers a very pretty treatment of the opening theme; Swallow takes a solo, softly rendered, around the 2mins 18secs mark and after about a minute Sco starts harmonising against the bass guitar. The whole ensemble play opens up then with Stewart becoming a little busier succinctly emerging more towards the close. I have added earlier versions of the composition so that you can hear how Gary Burton in a solo vibes version (on the 1972 released album Alone at Last) and Bill Evans in trio formation (from The Tokyo Concert released in 1974) approached the composition. In case you are wondering about the Bolinas in the title, it refers to a small place in Marin county, California, little more than a dozen miles north of San Francisco.

Steve Swallow, top left, John Scofield and Bill Stewart. Photo: via Saudades.