Jimmy Johnson or Dave Carpenter w/Holdsworth

I was a huge Holdsworth fan and saw him many times (including with Soft Machine when I was a kid). "Flim" Johnson is the one bassist I associate most strongly with him. I'm far less familiar with his later work with Carpenter - the last time I saw Holdsworth play with his own group was at Ronnie Scott's in London, and I think it was Skuli Sverrisson on bass at the time. So, for me, if I have to answer the question posed, Jimmy Johnson all the way.

 

Jeff Berlin with Holdsworth ain't bad, either.
Gary Willis, too.

The 1st bassist I associate with Holdsworth, though, is JJ.
(FWIW, the 1st drummer I associate with Holdsworth is Wackerman)

 

Jimmy Johnson definitely

 

I only learned about Dave Carpenter long after he passed, and I'm not sure I could even name a Holdsworth album he played on. What tracks would you recommend to get some DC under my ears? [edit: I've heard a bunch of live stuff on youtube w/ DC and AH, just wondering which albums he's on?]

 

I couldn't pick one, I've dug them all. Like Holdsworth's drummers, they were all badass and created art of the highest level.
P.S. don't forget Haslip's tenure either.

 

Jimmy Johnson.
Yes.

 

Jimmy Johnson for sure

 

The Double J. Who else could play with huge Prog chops with Allan Holdsworth, then make a 180 and own the James Taylor catalog?

 

Jimmy Johnson.. I’m a huge fan of Anthony Crawford’s playing with Holdsworth as well.

 

Stanley Clarke:



C/S,
Rev J

 

Jimmy Johnson

Sixteen Men of Tain is a great album though and Carpenter's playing on both electric and upright is stellar all the way through.

Dave Carpenter is the bass player that is asked by Buddy Rich on one of those famous rant tapes (that I won't post here because I'll get a warning) "what kind of setting you got on the bass tonight"....

 

Both are fantastic. Of the two noted, however, JJ is my preference.

I was fortunate to see Allen live many times, with a number of different bassists, including JJ. That said the two occasions I saw Allen with Jeff Berlin and Bill Bruford are by far my picks for a superior performance. Together, Jeff and Bill were uniquely complementary of Allen's singularly angular style.

 

i would never throw shade on either of them, but for me, it's johnson. " metal fatigue " was my intro to holdsworth.

 

I remember being really excited when ging to a Holdsworth gig and realising that Johnson was going to be on bass.
That said...Carpenter was good in other ways - when I saw the band he was told off for not playing enough root notes..funny that!( not sure how many beers Holdsworth had had by that time).
16men of Tain may well be my favourite Holdsworth album overall and I really enjoy Carpenter's playing on that album!

In terms of which bassist I consider the most interesting one today-playing, musical choices etc; That'd be Skuli Sverrisson...by a country mile.