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Bill Bruford: Feels Good to Me and One of a Kind
by John Kelman
Part 1 | Part 2 With a career that first defined by his metrically-challenging work and instantly recognizable drum sound with progressive rock groups Yes and King Crimson, nothing could have prepared anyone for the surprise of drummer Bill Bruford's first solo release, Feels Good to Me. While Bruford's signature style--a mathematically-precise approach that never failed to find the innate groove in even the most complex of time signatures--was in clear evidence, the album didn't sound like ...
Continue ReadingBill Bruford's Earthworks: Earthworks & Dig?
by John Kelman
Part 1 | Part 2 According to drummer Bill Bruford, the year 1987 was considered something of a fence constructed in the middle of his career—the year where he, at least from the perspective of his own work, stopped being considered a rock drummer (albeit a progressive one at that) and became a jazz drummer. With the formation of the first of his Earthworks bands, Bruford apparently walked away from “all guitars and electric" towards “all saxophones and ...
Continue ReadingBill Bruford & Michiel Borstlap: In Concert In Holland
by John Kelman
Bruford | BorstlapIn Concert In HollandSummerfold Records 2005 2005 seems to be the year of Bill Bruford. The drummer who first made his name with groups like Yes and King Crimson, but has more recently been heard in a looser improvisational context that might be considered jazz but also demonstrates elements of things farther afield, has a number of releases on the go. On his fledgling Winterfold and Summerfold labels fans will get the opportunity, ...
Continue ReadingBill Bruford/Michiel Borstlap: Every Step a Dance, Every Word a Song
by John Kelman
Drummer Bill Bruford has certainly come a long way since his emergence with Yes in the early '70s. While his interest in jazz was evident in the improvisational aspect of his 25-year association with King Crimson, his mathematical sense of precision and disposition towards mind-boggling subdivisions of rhythm often precluded the kind of elasticity required to approach the looser demands of jazz. As early as '83, however, Bruford was experimenting with the intimate conversational nature of the duo on recordings ...
Continue ReadingWinterfold Reissues Two By Patrick Moraz and Bill Bruford
by John Kelman
For drummer Bill Bruford, known for his work with progressive rockers King Crimson and Yes, but perhaps someone who should be more duly considered for his recent forays into jazz with his Earthworks band, currently featuring British woodwind multi-instrumentalist Tim Garland, the creation of his own record label seems, as it has for many artists including Dave Holland and Dave Douglas, the next and right logical step. But with a diverse catalogue of projects that stretches back nearly 30 years, ...
Continue ReadingThe 21st Century Guide to King Crimson: Volume One 1969-1974
by John Kelman
Of all the groups to emerge from the late '60s-early '70s heyday of British Progressive Rock (capitals fully intended), no group has reinvented itself more frequently and, perhaps, more rapidly than King Crimson. As time has gone on the group's ostensible leader Robert Fripp has refashioned the group through periods of high melodrama to nuevo metal and just about everything in between. Until recently, new fans who wanted an overview of the band had to satisfy themselves with the 4-CD ...
Continue ReadingBill Bruford: No Random Act
by John Kelman
Much has already been written about drummer/composer/bandleader Bill Bruford's role in the development of progressive rock. As a founding member of Yes and a key participant in numerous King Crimson incarnations to name but two, Bruford's instantly recognizable sound and mathematical precision helped define a number of classic recordings, including Yes' Fragile and Close to the Edge, and King Crimson's Lark's Tongues in Aspic, Discipline and Thrak. But as important as he has been in pushing the boundaries of that ...
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