The continued adventure of January being guitar heaven had a feast for six stringed fans at the Canyon Club Thursday night.
Every Thursday is “Live Unsigned Night,” with the opening act for Allan Holdsworth being the impressive Ruben Reza, who picked his Fender along with Ruben Rosas/key, Bill Diaz/b and Adam Ponce/dr through a tasty half hour of songs that ranged from fusion to salsa to good old blues. Reza had a clean and impressive approach to his solos, not showing flashy, but emphasizing taste and style over vociferous chops. Rosas’ keyboard work was impressive on the gospel-ish track, and Diaz’s bass line delivered some sleek bop lines which Reza danced over like a stone over a lake. Sign this guy up!
Alan Holdsworth came on stage with the all star team of Virgil Donati/d and Jimmy Haslip/b and delivered a 90 minute set that showed how the delicate balance between jazz and rock can be mixed to the perfect solution. His icy-hot tone mixed rapid note runs and sophisticated chords on pieces such as “Texas” while the thunderous tune from his old days with Lifetime was highlighted by muscle flexing by all involved on “Fred.” Playing with his pedal to the metal, Holdsworth created various tone colors and mood with his guitar, at times sounding like a keyboard/mellotron as on “I.O.U.” while segueing from glowing to fiery as he lead the band down an thunderous assault on “Water On The Brain” and “Letters Of Marque,” the latter featuring Donati rumbling like an avalanche while Haslips snappy lines kept the foundation settled to prevent the earthquake from shattering anything valuable. The mix of rock’s aggressiveness and the sophistication of jazz made for a night of sophisticated swing and style. The guy sitting next to me was a lawyer from Venezuela who flew 9 hours just to see the band. “It was worth the trip,” he beamed. No arguments from the locals, either!
Upcoming shows promise to be a feast for guitar fans. They include Eric Johnson-Mike Stern/Jan 25, Ottmar Liebert/Feb 15, Johnny Lang/Mar 28 and Buddy Guy/Apr 10