Allan Zuckoff

LEVERKUSEN 2010, the fifth and latest release in the continuing series of classic live recordings by Allan Holdsworth, is due November 5 from Manifesto Records.

Allan Taylor is one of England's most-respected singer/songwriters. His songs have been covered by artists on both sides of the Atlantic, including Don Williams, Frankie Miller, Fairport Convention, Dick Gaughan, the McCalmans, the Fureys, the Clancy Brothers, and De Dannan. Folk Roots praised him for his "ability to crystallize a mood and evoke an era with the ease of a computer memory access, crafting perfect songs with dramatic changes in the spirit of Brecht, Bikel, and Brel." The Oxford Book of Traditional Verse felt as strongly, writing that Taylor was "one of the most literate and sensitive of contemporary songwriters in terms of words and music and one who is capable of exploring more complex subjects than most of his contemporaries."

Allan Taylor is one of England's most-respected singer/songwriters. His songs have been covered by artists on both sides of the Atlantic, including Don Williams, Frankie Miller, Fairport Convention, Dick Gaughan, the McCalmans, the Fureys, the Clancy Brothers, and De Dannan. Folk Roots praised him for his "ability to crystallize a mood and evoke an era with the ease of a computer memory access, crafting perfect songs with dramatic changes in the spirit of Brecht, Bikel, and Brel." The Oxford Book of Traditional Verse felt as strongly, writing that Taylor was "one of the most literate and sensitive of contemporary songwriters in terms of words and music and one who is capable of exploring more complex subjects than most of his contemporaries."

For 40 years Allan Taylor, has been considered as the consummate performer, a writer of literary gracefulness whose troubadour chronicles encapsulate the realism of otherwise unsung heroes, otherwise uncharted lives. On previous albums Allan Taylor sang songs about the road, about all the different countries and all the hotel rooms. All Is One goes deeper - into time and ultimately to the recognition that All Is One. A powerful philosophical statement delivered with virtuoso lightness. Someone who is approaching 70 and calls his album All Is One obviously has something to say. Taylor plays his favorite Martin guitars with the same sensitivity for body, expression and autonomy which one finds in his vocal performance - always moving, and never merely vague. In the last song Allan Taylor summarizes: ''I may not be the perfect man, I guess I'll do the best I can'' - and ends the album with the bemused lightness of a simple D-major chord.

Criminally unknown and underappreciated, Allan Holdsworth is one of the greatest musicians ever to pick up the electric guitar. Here, on 1985's Metal Fatigue, everything finally comes together for him…

A true masterpiece, Secrets is the massive culmination of Allan Holdsworth's years-long legato technique and SynthAxe development. Conceptually inspired by but significantly different from the electric guitar, the SynthAxe is not a guitar-controlled synthesizer; it's a completely unique instrument of its own, making the guitarist's gripping performances all the more impressive…