Allan Holdsworth, Alan Pasqua, Chad Wackerman & Jimmy Haslip - Proto-Cosmos (2022)

If the song title "Proto-Cosmos" brings Tony Williams to mind then step to the front of the class. Alan Pasqua's tune is featured on the drummer's 1975 album, Believe It (Columbia). The record is considered by some to be the best fusion album of all time. In addition to Pasqua and bassist Tony Newton, a young British guitarist named Allan Holdsworth introduced himself to the masses. Fast forward to 2022 and it has been five and a half years since Holdsworth passed away. But with this album, he and "Proto-Cosmos" are front and center again.

A brief history lesson lesson. In 2007 Holdsworth recruited Pasqua, along with drummer Chad Wackerman and bassist Jimmy Haslip, to perform a few shows at Yoshi's Jazz Club in Oakland, California as a tribute to Williams. Those shows were video recorded and spawned the album Blues For Tony (Moonjune, 2009) and the DVD Live at Yoshi's (Altitude Digital, 2007). What started out as a tribute ultimately morphed into a scintillating quartet in its own right.

Back to the present and a third production has been culled from the Yoshi recordings. Proto-Cosmos is now a tribute to Holdsworth, with a nod to Williams. Takes that had not been released previously bring new life to this classic material. Holdsworth's genius is captured in solos ranging from blissful to raging. His deep musical vocabulary is given the opportunity to shine as well. His vocabulary was of far less value if the other cats did not speak the same language. Fortunately, Pasqua, Wackerman and Haslip are all upper echelon players who provided intriguing interplay and improvisation to the mix. They brought their A games to these performances.

Sometimes less is more. That is to say there is no need for any spoiler alerts here. This is a high quality recording of Allan Holdsworth and company boldly doing their thing.

Review By Jim Worsley