ALLAN HOLDSWORTH - Key Persons

Bill Bruford is a British drummer. He appeared with Allan on three studio albums: "Feels Good To Me" and "One Of A Kind" by the band Bruford, and the self-titled album by U.K.. Bill Bruford's solo album (out this month) is the latest of Holdsworth's projects; the featured musicians also include Dave Stewart on keyboards and an American called Jeff Berlin on bass, whom Allan spent several minutes enthusing over ("He's a killer. He's gonna scare a lot of people. Really lethal." ) At the time of writing secret rehearsals are going on with a new band believed to include Bruford, Holdsworth, Eddie Jobson and John Wetton. Whether this will result in a touring band, or in an album, or in both, is not known yet. Allan had been sworn to silence even regarding band personnel, and this information came from "another source". Let's just hope it's accurate.

1) Do you remember the circumstances in which you first became aware of Allan as a musician? I was surprised to read a Melody Maker interview from November 1972 in which you already cited Allan as one of the guitarists that impressed you most, alongside John McLaughlin and Robert Fripp. Where did you first see him play, and with whom? BB: I can't quite remember. Maybe a Soft Machine album, and certainly he was very strong on "Gazeuse" by Gong. No-one else had that liquid style and the octave leaps and the whammy bar and the rest of it... 2) As far as I know, your first collaboration with Allan was a demo for Virgin of "The Abingdon Chasp" in, I think, the summer of 1976, alongside Dave Stewart, Francis Moze and Ray Warleigh. Is this true? Do you remember playing/recording more tracks? Just Allan's compositions? Was this the first time you ever played together? Did that session leave you a strong impression, an inkling that Allan and yourself could form a strong musical partnership? BB: I don't remember anything about that demo, but Allan had certainly asked me to play in a pub in Putney (South-West London) some time around then with Ray Warleigh. Of course, by now I knew enough about his talent to be hugely impressed, and to think that if ever the opportunity arose, if ever I could find a vehicle big enough to contain him, I'd give him a call...

Merlin Rhys Jones started by asking Allan about the influence of John Coltrane on his playing... Allan Holdsworth: ... that's when I started going out and buying tons of Coltrane records, everything I could find. My dad had a lot of records and I started out copying Charlie Christian solos. By the time I discovered Coltrane I had learned to just absorb the (musical) experience. I never analysed or transcribed anything (Coltrane) did because it was very spirited, with a lot of heart but it was also heady. Coltarne Sounds was my favourite record.

Job Titles:

• Pink Floyd 's Studio Engineer

This article is about Allan's father, Sam Holdsworth. It consists of quotes made by Allan about his father in interviews from 1978 onwards. The words "father" and "dad" are highlighted in bold. Please note that Allan was adopted and raised by his maternal grandparents, and consistently referred to them as his father, his mother and his parents. This is detailed in the quotes below.