Bill Bruford

Bill Bruford's Earthworks

Footloose and Fancy Free cd

5 Stars: Downbeat. ‘Live’ is where jazz happens, where the risks are taken, the mistakes made, and the energy unleashed. Recorded live in London’s Soho, this double CD has a snappy version of ‘Original Sin’ on it; a piece that I originally wrote for B.L.U.E. with Tony Levin. Here’s some excellent Steve Hamilton piano-playing from ‘A Part and Yet Apart’.

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Pianocircus-Bruford-Riley

Skin and Wire cd

My last CD of fresh material, released in 2009, will always have a special place in my heart, as does my first CD with Yes recorded some 40 years earlier. It’s a long way between the two, in all respects. A composer (Colin Riley) supervises a jazz drummer who used to be a rock drummer (me) playing with a group of classical pianists best known for performing systems music (Pianocircus). Skin and Wire blends electronica, jazz and the avant-garde.

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Moraz-Bruford

In Tokyo cd

Music for electronic piano and drums, live. The only official live album of this duo. Keyboard manufacturer Kurzweil was the market leader in the new keyboard sampling technology of the day. For the first time, the player could improvise something, loop it, and improvise more on top in real time. Live sampling on stage was fraught with hazards - if you played too many notes with too many sounds the whole thing would crash. But Moraz uses the full orchestral range of the instrument to great effect here on the front of ‘Hazy’.

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Winterfold Artists

The Winterfold Collection (1978-1986) cd

Thirteen of the best tracks from across the Winterfold label. In the late 1970s my partner Dave Stewart had to ship a Hammond organ around until Sequential Circuits finally invented a much smaller (and lighter) Prophet 5 polyphonic synthesiser. We both heaved a sigh of relief. Dave took to it like a duck to water, and became a highly original synthesiser player. His beautiful opening chords on this audio sample are like taking a warm bath.

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Bill Bruford's Earthworks

The Sound of Surprise cd

My personal favourite of all my solo efforts. The‘difficult’ cover artwork was issued erroneously in two forms, causing unhelpful confusion.‘Revel Without a Pause’, ‘Come to Dust’, ‘The Wooden Man Sings…’ represent three of my more successful compositions. Here’s some drum action from ‘Revel…’

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Bruford-Towner-Gomez

If Summer Had Its Ghosts cd

All the drummers were turning in muscular jazz-rock, and I was after something more dreamy, autumnal and lyrical. The instruments would be all acoustic and intimately recorded in close-up, whispering in your ear. Nothing wrong with the plan, but the music could have used some rehearsal. It was recorded straight from the page. Check out Ralph’s delicious 12-string acoustic guitar playing on the title track. Good enough to eat.

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King Crimson

5.1 Surround Sound Series other

King Crimson Poster available at the DGM shop.