So I have listened to an album over the last few days that i think is one of the best blues albums of the year, Q.E.D. by Jim Allchin. Jim is not quite your typical blues artist. How many blues artist do you know that you can say this about??….
While pursuing his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology in the early eighties, he was the primary architect of the Clouds distributed object-oriented operating system;[6] his thesis was entitled “An Architecture for Reliable Decentralized Systems”.[7]
That’s because not many blues artist are former Microsoft executives. While Allchin was at Microsoft…..
He assisted Microsoft in creating many of the system platform components including Microsoft Windows, Windows Server, server products such as SQL Server, and developer technologies. He is best known for building Microsoft’s server business.[1] He is also known for his leading role in the architecture and development of the directory services technology Banyan VINES. He has won numerous awards in his career such as the Technical Excellence Person of the Year in 2001.[2] Jim Allchin led the Platforms division at Microsoft, overseeing the development of Windows client from Windows 98 to Windows Vista, Windows Server from NT Server 4.0 to Windows Server 2008, as well as several releases of Microsoft server products as well as Windows CE and Windows Embedded line of products. After serving sixteen years at Microsoft, Allchin retired in early 2007 when Microsoft officially released the Windows Vista operating system to consumers Full Biography
Allchin writes at his website
I was diagnosed with cancer in late 2002. I was treated and fully recovered in 2003. I took a leave of absence, but the overall experience changed me forever. I decided to leave Microsoft at that time, but because of loyalty and commitment I stayed until the end of 2006/beginning of 2007. Read More
Now Allchin is dedicating all his time to making music and has released two well received albums. Overclocked and Q.E.D. Allchin;s guitar work has been particularly praised on both albums, and well it should be, because it’s very, very good. Allchin can handle both the hard-driving tracks and the softer and slower tracks equally well..
Here’s what some folks are saying about Q.E.D.
“Q.E.D. is a devastating combination of hard-hitting, incisive original material, passionate, expressive vocals and virtuosic guitar playing that will have jaws dropping, Jim Allchin rightly claims his place in the forefront of contemporary blues musicians.” – Dave Rubin, KBA Winner in Journalism, July 2013
“Flawless screaming guitar riffs.” – Bman’s Blues Report, August 2013
“Q.E.D. is a guitar player’s dream.”– Graham Clarke, Blues Bytes, August 2013
So check it out!! Here’s the opening track on the album, :”Stop and Go”
