Then! Live in Tokyo

Artist: Alan Holdsworth Group
Label: Phantom Sound & Vision
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Live
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 766487691444
EAN: 3383001873321
ASIN: B0001JSSDG

Release Date: 2004-01-01

Then! Live in Tokyo

Related Categories:

Britain

General

| Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion

| Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion

| Live Albums | Jazz | Styles | Music

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock

| Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General

| Rock Guitarists | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock

| Live Albums | Rock | Styles | Music

Rock Guitarists

| Live Albums | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Rock

| Imports | Stores | Music

Tracks:

Zone I
Proto-Cosmos
White Line
Atavachron
Zone II
Pud Wud
House of Mirrors
Non-Brewed Condiment
Zone III

Album Description

French release of 2004 album recorded live in Tokyo, May 4-6 1990. Packaged in a digipak. JMS. 2004.

Customer Reviews:

Strong performances from Mr. Holdsworth and Band.......2006-09-28

This live recording from the Allan Holdsworth Group circa 1990 features intense playing and audiophile sound quality. Gary Husband (drums) and Jimmy Johnson (bass) sound especially good on this release, laying down deep and ferocious grooves throughout, most notably on "Proto Cosmos" and "Non-Brewed Condiment". The "Zones" are a real treat too; keep in mind that all three "Zones" are group improvs, not written pieces, then listen to how well each band member compliments what the others are doing. These guys have big ears! Quite marvelous, really.

I believe Mr. Holdsworth has had better nights on a few of the tunes, and I wish he'd put himself a little higher in the mix, but the fabulous rhythm section and superlative group interplay earn this baby five stars. Check it out.

Another great live Holdsworth performance!.......2006-08-19

This is the first live Holdsworth I've found containing "Non Brewed Condiment". It's the highlight of the CD AND he plays it on electric guitar instead of SynthAxe which is a treat! Sound production is solid. I would have given this 5 stars had it not been for the limited tracks and a couple of the selections would not have been my first choice. But a must for all Holdsworth heads.

Excellent musicians playing excellent music excellently.......2005-09-13

Well, this is a special cd. Released in 2004, the recording took place in May of 1990 in Japan. There's an unbelievably strong chemistry among the band members of this touring quartet, none of whom played together as a group on any of the studio albums from which the music for this concert was culled.

Gary Husband's drumming is phenomenal - interesting, jazzy, driving, and right up front in the recording mix. Jimmy Johnson's bass is like an additional guitar soloist on many of the songs, just all over the place. Keyboardist Steve Hunt helps to keep some rhythmic sanity in those moments when Husband is soloing and improvising, and he also provides the band a nice full sound with additional soloing - he even uses some synthaxe (or synthaxe sounds on the keyboard) to augment the fullness of the band and stay true to the original feel of some of the compositions.

Then there's Allan Holdsworth. He's at the top of his game here on this recording. If you're reading this review on a relatively obscure album of his, then you don't need me to tell you how great his sound and technique is. He just kills on this cd.

Song selections include Proto-Cosmos, White Line, Atavachron, Pud Wud, House of Mirrors, Non-Brewed Condiment and three improvised selections spread throughout the album called Zones (which all feature a baritone electric guitar). The playing and execution is tight and true, but different enough from the original studio versions to make this a very worthwhile purchase. (The "Zones" are O.K., not great. But they ARE new and unique! They're growing on me.)

Finally, rest assured that the recording and production quality is great. If you've seen other reviews by me, you know that's important to me. The original source tapes were "extremely high quality, digital 24-track" tapes (according to the liner notes), and Holdsworth himself was involved in the mixing and mastering of all tracks.

AH is one of my very favorite guitarists, from his playing with Tony Williams, Soft Machine, Gong, Ponty, Bruford and U.K., right on through to his own great solo stuff. Here, he inspires his whole band to shine on one great piece after another.

Superlatives fail to define his greatness. I highly recommend this cd.

I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:
Music quality = 9/10; Performance = 9.5/10; Production = 9.5/10; CD length = 10/10.
Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 9.3 ("5 stars")

Intense.......2004-11-24

Incredible sound and performance. This is a more hectic, aggressive side to Holdsworth live performance than most listeners will be used to. Excellent and recommended.

Music Album:

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Softly Wild and Something Else ~ Johnny Richards Orchestra

Rhodes Ahead, Vol. 1 ~ Marc Cary

'S Wonderful ~ Bill Charlap Trio

In The Christmas Spirit ~ Dan Dobek

You Are My Everything ~ Sweet Basil Trio

Chieftains Live! ~ The Chieftains

Raga Darbari Kanarra ~ Nazakat & Salamat

Tet a Tet ~ Various Artists

Celele E Relala ~ Celele, Relala

Niagara Song Book ~ Eiichi Ohtaki