Allan Holdsworth
London Ronnie Scott’s
4th June, 2010

Watched by the likes of John Etheridge, Allan Holdsworth and his accomplices ran through the first of their two evening tilts with studied explosiveness, the 75-minute set taking in seven numbers marked ‘Jazz Fusion – Not For Beginners’. The technical trickery built from the opening burst of Holdsworth notes, intricate and discordant, matched by Jimmy Johnson’s hurtling bass lines and Gary Husband’s thunderous percussion. A Dixie Dregs feel pervaded proceedings before Water On The Brain signalled a bluesier direction, and Husband’s Shiva-esque drum punishment, resulting in chipped and flying sticks. The barrages continued unabated, the trio’s staccato blasts tempered by occasional spectral interludes of sustain and tribal rhythms, before a rocking finale.