Bruford: Rock Goes to College

In response to demand for an audio-only version, Rock Goes to College makes its appearance on CD and, naturally, possesses the same strengths and weaknesses of the DVD. The sound is good, not great, but certainly on a par with (or slightly better than) The Bruford Tapes (Winterfold, 1979), culled from a U.S. radio show performance with Clarke on guitar.

Singer Annette Peacock, who appeared on Bruford's debut, Feels Good to Me (Winterfold, 1978), is the weak link in a very strong chain. While her sultry, up-front-in-the-mix vocals on Feels Good to Me provided a distinctive complexion and vibe, here her hit-and-miss pitch detracts from the near-perfection of the rest of the group. The advantage of the audio CD is that one needn't watch her unsuccessful attempts at on-stage theatrics.

Peacock aside, what both versions of Rock Goes to College demonstrate is that, while the music is tightly structured, this was still a band with serious improvisational chops. It was also a group with a collective identity that, while capitalizing on the remarkable strengths of each member, became something more than the sum of its parts when coming together.

Holdsworth's remarkable speed and visceral legato lines had already gained considerable attention by the time of this recording. As years passed, his perfectionist tendencies would sometimes get in the way, but here he's less deliberative and far more exciting—characteristics that have thankfully returned to his playing on the recent Allan Holdsworth and Alan Pasqua Featuring Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Haslip (Altitude, 2007) DVD.

Stewart, whose unique harmonic approach was no small influence on Holdsworth, would soon leave the progressive community, and his innovative work here suggests his early departure was all the more a shame. Berlin, who continues to record infrequently (most recently Aneurythms, M.A.J., 2007), remains an equally innovative, albeit largely overlooked, player.

But here, on a set culled from Feels Good to Me and its follow-up, One of a Kind (Winterfold, 1979), Bruford—the group and the drummer—is in top form. At a time when boundaries existed to be broken, Bruford was blending complex writing with muscular soloing and art rock intentions. The audio release of Rock Goes to College is an important document of that time permitting enjoyment of the music away from one's television set or PC.