Behind the scenes and highlights from Hamburg, Germany at Fabrik with Allan Holdsworth. Allan Holdsworth - Guitar Jimmy Haslip - Bass Virgil Donati - Drums
from this excerpts from the classic songs I feel that it grooves completely different with Virgil, i agree with some posters about him trying to play counter rythms to much while comping solos. but it´s refreshing, different, he doesnt use the ride cymbal that much while comping and has more of a rock vibe than a jazz approach, it´s original !!! this guys are certainly three monsters of their instruments.
Virgil ...brought new energy to the Holdsworth sound.....along with Jimi. Would have wished for Virgil to have been with Alan allot longer.......if their was a redo universe button.
I love this. Virgil brings in a fresh approach. I love the way Allan uses various drummers. Love Chad, Vinnie, Gary, et al but I think Virgil is pretty fucking amazing here.
I have been following Virgil since 12 years ago... Man you gotta check all his work Jazz/Fussion is only one style of all that he plays. He plays Heavy, rock, progessive. He also is an incredible pianist. He has devoted his life to music.
Yeah, Virgil gets underneath Allans music in a very involved way that is so complimentary yet subtle. Too bad we didn't get more of this collaboration before Allan's all-to-early departure.
I cannot say this is the best bassist that AH has had in a trio but...easily the best recording of any of his bassists. Very easy to hear what he is doing
Virgil is the great musician. So strong technique and intelligent interacts with so diferent kind of musics but Chad was born to play with Allan. Haslip is so intense in this job. So good. And Allan Holdsworth is the last top of the music. The way he plays and understand music is not from this world. Beautiful and free perfomance. Thanks.
Had the pleasure of seeing & hearing Allan's work from Jean Luc Ponty's 1977 Enigmatic Ocean tour, Phenomenal Guitarist, Eddie Van Halens Fave guitarist besides himself!
Virgil is one of the best to ever live for sure, but I prefer Weckl in this sort of setting. Not that Virgil isn't stupid good, but Weckl just has the jazz/fusion feel and fluidity like no other. Go watch Got a Match Part 2. It's one of the greatest feats of musicality behind a kit ever performed. Not that I am complaining one bit about one of my favorite drummers of all time mind you because let's face it Virgil is other-worldly.
The amazing thing about Virgil is that no matter what kind of drums you got in front of him he always sounds like Virgil. Ever since he switched from Pearl to DW he still sounds pretty much the same. The sound comes from the player and not the gear. Of course good gear helps to make sure you sound like you should, but in the hands of the Masters they Will sound like the individual playing them. Great video
Perhaps, perhaps not. Either way, if he still uses the same drumheads and tune the drums the way he does, I think that it would sound almost the same, because that's the sound that Virgil choses. But you may be correct. Perhaps the future will tell.
Yes HE would sound the same but not ALL drums sound the same. DW quite frankly lack any tonal quality at all and if your statement rang true, then his DW kit would sound like his Pearl kit, and it doesn't.
Well, I wouldn't say they lack tonal quality. DW timbre match the drum shells and if you tune the drums to the same pitch as the shells, damn, they sing gooooood. Of course they don't sound exactly as the other companies. But they sing as much as all the other companies out there. But hey, Dw is not for everyone. Tama is not for everyone, pearl, sonor, and so on. I don't think we can agree with each other 100%. Lets agree to disagree. You have valid points, as do I. cheers man!
Well, the name of the Band is: Allan Holdsworth Band and not Virgil Donati!! All i see is Virgil on drums and almost no Allan. The person on the Camera was a as.....e!!! Great cuts, but i will see how Allan play!!
AH is amazing. However his rythm sections always dissapoint me to the point of making the perfomance unlistenable. All this "highly technically advanced" wanking is so distracting. And I can't stand the aggressiveness of the tone of the drummer here. In fact both of them - the drummer and the bassman here - could easily be replaced by a machine. No real feeling, all chops. Such genius really calls for the top notch sidemen. I would like to hear AH with a section like Haden/DeJohnette.
I agree. I love Virgil, but he tries too hard to impress polyrhythmic drummer fans by playing hide-and-seek with the beat ALL THE TIME. It gets tiring. I've seen AH play live with Gary Husband and Jimmy Johnson. Jimmy is a joy to watch and so is Allan with his freaky 7-fret-span chords. It is great to see Allan play with different talent.
WHY oh WHY won't you release a complete live album? For what reason such beatiful live music is hidden in your vaults? Holdsworth hoards up tunes, never releases them, why do the same? Please release a live album!
Donati's playing feels to me like he is always 1/32 ahead of the beat and the rest of the band. His style does not work with Allan. Music is not just playing polyrhythmic excersises.... I can't hear music in his playing.
Stixnfeet Durden I know! When I first saw him in the mid 1990s, he was playing Demo drums, and then he switched to Premiere; he played a cool green Genista kit then. He then moved to Pearl, and the rest is history.
I'm surprised Holdsworth didn't fling his guitar at Donati @ 150-152. Maybe Donati was brought in to expose AH's music to new younger audiences. R.I.P. Master H
A organic dynamic drummer like Gary Husband suit Allans music better in my opinion,no offense Virgil but difficult technical stuff is not the same as being musical !
Very inspired, pulsing bass work from Jimmy Haslip, also. His playing seemed more subdued when the trio first started; he's really dialed in here. Magnificent trio work.
I'm thinking, how did virgil count and formulate his beats when playing a complex composition like that with such a talent like sir Allan and Jimmy Haslip too?
I agree with your 1st sentence....and partially with your second, but Holdsworth strikes me as having been fully-formed for quite while at this point. Of course, the end result is indeed different with each musical partner, but I suspect that AH's evolution would've been just as deep if he'd played with no band at all.
it must be over 20 years (or close to it) I remember standing in the front bar of the Corner Hotel, watching the support act of Virgil Donati and Jack Jones (aka the Comaheads [sorry Virgil if i got it wrong] was the name of memory) then followed by the amazing brilliant Alan Holdsworth. Now sitting in front of the PC and watching Virgil playing drums for Alan. my favourite drummer and guitarist together making me wish this was the Corner Hotel (Richmond, Victoria, Australia) watching this. thank you for making such wonderful Music and a drumming style I would sell my soul for to play like that. PS Virgil Do you still have the White Sonor from the old GrainStore Days ?? (lol) I remember talking to you at the Corner Hotel gig asking that question and you offered me drum lessons at the time (I wish i could go back in time and slap my self silly and took up your offer lol )
Excellent drumming! Unfortunately for guitarists this vid has few Allan solos - it's obviously geared towards showing the drum element of this line-up.
Just for the record - I must be a fool as I think Gary Husband is one of the most musical, talented and exciting drummers about. Like Virgil, he doesn't hold back and always plays with passion and energy. Anyone who believes they have the last word on anyone as gifted as any one of the fine musicians mentioned here is the fool to my mind. Yet again, another armchair critic who I doubt has the musical understanding or credibilty to actually back up their point of view.
Yeah, I am a musician but not a drummer but I love the way Virgil counter punches and comes back at you for his sense of timing is awesome. Love jazz fusion!
As I write this there are 28 thumbs down for this video. The utter subjectivity of a person's response to art never ceases to amaze. My own subjectivity is in total disagreement, but I would love to hear an eloquently reasoned "thumbs down" response.
I didn't give a thumbs down because I love Allan's playing. For me though, the drums are way too much. I appreciate the technicality of it, but it's like one long drum solo. Drum solos are great as a kind of novelty thing while the other musicians take a little break. If I'm honest, it's a relief for my ears when the drummer chills (which doesn't happen often enough in this set!).
here is one reason... because the button is there and people don't have to like the same stuff, and when given an opertunity to vote... they do.. It is not a big deal.. it is only music. in that way...
pretty cool to watch you playing with Holdsworth man... may his music live on forever.. it really was from the future i feel like he was wayyy ahead of his time.
Mr Donati you are my idol. Thank you so much for these new videos. Your talent and dedication come through every second you play and even when your not playing. You have inspired me since day one!
4 года назад
If you're playing with Allan Holdsworth, you are an amazing musician. If you're playing with Virgil Donati, you're Allan Holdsworth.
thanks for the upload , great to hear a few newer renditions of some older tunes , and I dont mind hearing a few different band-mates . I don't mind the diversity although like everyone I have my favorite combinations of players as well . Regardless who is your favorite drummer , ... what a list he has played with . Loved It !
Although Gary Husband's drumming was over the top for its time. I would have to say that Virgil's drumming is towering over even that. It would seem that the art of drumming has outpaced every other instrument in the past ten years with the advent's of Marco Minemenn, Virgil Donati, Dave Weckl, Mike Mangini,Terry Bozzio and Vinnie Caluata. I just don't see guitarists, bassists advancing at the same rate as percussionists/drummers. IMHO!
merci from Québec, Montreal, Canada, then , Virgil as a fantastic drummer, dos not fit the job her, to jazzy for Allan, music, well -Chad Wackerman did a more appropriate swing ( like- do what you can on Zappa music) so a bit annoying for the drumming, to stiff, anyway thank s
I'm all for being expressive in music and all that but I think Virgil is overplaying a bit here. He's a great drummer, obviously, but man he's a bit distracting here. Flame away....
no shit bub!! I am talking about how precise they are in their melodic structures. just as if someone was to program a machine and it ran to the precise measurment. in which music is based on measures and precise timing. i was paying them a very nice complement and i understand the color that they are very well presenting. does that help a little??:)
