Allan Holdsworth (born August 6, 1948) is a British guitarist and jazz composer.
Holdsworth is felt by many to be one of the most significant figures in the development and evolution of the electric guitar in the modern era, and has been described as "the guitarist's guitarist". The unique efficiency of his playing style, and his mathematical approach to mentally mapping out the fretboard allows him to 'see' symmetrical finger patterns, which produce note flourishes associated more with the saxophone playing style of Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane than voicings one might be used to hearing from the guitar.
Holdsworth has recorded many different styles of music over the years, including a brief flirtation with pop, in the form of a collaboration with British funk fusion pop band Level 42.
In the early Seventies, Holdsworth joined avant-garde rock group Gong (band) and later in the decade he was a member the all-star progressive rock quartet UK (band) with John Wetton, Bill Bruford and Eddie Jobson.
He is also recognized for his own compositions, which vary in musical style from progressive fusion jazz (for example, his work with Soft Machine on their album Bundles), to romantic, chordal and "spacey" guitar-synthesizer works (he utilises an instrument called 'the SynthAxe' an effective example of which can be heard on the album Atavachron)
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