Bruford | |
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Background information | |
Years active | 1977–1980 |
Past members | Bill Bruford Allan Holdsworth Annette Peacock Dave Stewart Jeff Berlin John Clark |
Bruford were a band assembled and led by British drummer Bill Bruford (former Yes and King Crimson), originating in the late 1970s.
Bill Bruford formed the jazz-fusion band for his debut solo album Feels Good to Me , with keyboardist Dave Stewart (formerly Hatfield and the North), American virtuoso bassist Jeff Berlin and guitarist Allan Holdsworth (formerly Soft Machine and Pierre Moerlen's Gong). [1] This first album also featured Annette Peacock on occasional vocals and British jazz stalwart Kenny Wheeler on flugelhorn. [2] Bruford and Holdsworth then joined the progressive rock group U.K. [3] After Bruford and Holdsworth left U.K., a second album One of a Kind enlisted the same line-up as the first album (minus Peacock and Wheeler) and was all instrumental. [2] On the live album The Bruford Tapes (a show originally broadcast for radio station WLIR), guitarist John Clark (formerly of Quasar) replaced Holdsworth. [2] Clark remained and bassist Berlin sang vocals for the first time on the third album, Gradually Going Tornado , which also featured "Joe Frazier", Berlin's first composition for the group. [2]
Bruford were active at the end of a vibrant decade for fusion music, with groups like Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever and Brand X getting much attention. Though Bruford followed in the tradition of these bands, the ensemble was unprofitable and were dropped by EG Records in 1980.
A complete boxed set of Bruford recordings was released by Bill Bruford's own Winterfold records label in October 2017. The unreleased material comprises a complete show at London's The Venue and 18 demos for Bruford's intended fourth studio album. These tracks are rough "works in progress" that were never properly finished and recorded when Bruford were dropped by EG Records. The CD remixes were completed by Jakko Jakszyk.
Timeline
Allan Holdsworth was a British jazz and rock guitarist, violinist and composer. He contributed to numerous bands, including Soft Machine, U.K., The Tony Williams Lifetime, Pierre Moerlen's Gong and Bruford, in addition to solo work.
William Scott Bruford is an English drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording and touring with King Crimson (1972–1974), Roy Harper (1975), and U.K. (1978), as well as touring with Genesis (1976). In 1978, he formed his own group, Bruford, which was active until 1980.
Blues rock is a fusion genre and form of rock music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock. From its beginnings in the early to mid-1960s, blues rock has gone through several stylistic shifts and along the way it inspired and influenced hard rock, Southern rock, and early heavy metal.
Barbara Gaskin is an English singer formerly associated with the UK Canterbury scene.
U.K. were a British progressive rock supergroup originally active from 1977 to 1980. The band was founded by bass guitarist John Wetton and drummer Bill Bruford, formerly the rhythm section of King Crimson. The band was rounded out by violinist/keyboardist Eddie Jobson, and guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Bruford and Holdsworth left in 1978, and Bruford was replaced by drummer Terry Bozzio. Jobson, Wetton and Bozzio reformed U.K. for a world tour in 2012.
Red is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson, released on 6 October 1974 on Island Records in the United Kingdom and Atlantic Records in North America and Japan. The album was recorded at Olympic Studios in London in July and August 1974, and produced by the band themselves.
One of a Kind is the second solo album by the drummer Bill Bruford, and the first proper album by his band Bruford. Released in 1979 on EG Records, it is a collection of instrumentals in a style that can loosely be defined as jazz fusion. Bruford features guitarist Allan Holdsworth, bassist Jeff Berlin, and keyboardist Dave Stewart. "Forever Until Sunday" and "The Sahara of Snow" had originally been performed at 1978 concerts by Bruford and Holdsworth’s previous band U.K. They were intended for a studio album, but were never properly recorded by U.K. as Bruford kept the pieces for himself when he and Holdsworth exited the band. U.K. bandmate Eddie Jobson co-wrote "The Sahara of Snow" and reprises his violin part on "Forever Until Sunday". Stewart's "Hell's Bells" utilizes a fragment penned by his former National Health colleague Alan Gowen. Holdsworth's "The Abingdon Chasp" is the only piece he wrote for Bruford.
Gradually Going Tornado is the third solo album by drummer Bill Bruford and the second and final album by his group Bruford. It was co-produced by Bruford and Ron Malo, the latter known from his work with Weather Report. The music on the album leans closer to progressive rock than the jazz fusion oriented sound of the band’s previous albums. More of Bruford's lyrics are featured as well, for the first time sung by bassist Jeff Berlin. "Land's End" incorporates music keyboardist Dave Stewart had previously composed for the National Health album Of Queues and Cures (1978). Guitarist Allan Holdsworth left the group before recording began, and recommended his guitar student John Clark as his replacement. Clark was listed as “the Unknown John Clark” on the album sleeve as part of a running joke highlighting his obscurity in comparison to Holdsworth.
Jeffrey Arthur Berlin is an American jazz fusion bassist. He first came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the band Bruford led by drummer Bill Bruford.
U.K. is the debut album by the progressive rock supergroup U.K., released in April 1978 through E.G. Records and Polydor Records. It features John Wetton, Eddie Jobson, Bill Bruford, and Allan Holdsworth. The album was well received by FM album rock radio and by the public during the summer of 1978. The LP sold just over 250,000 copies by 1 September 1978, with further sales through the rest of the year. The album was remastered in 2016 and included as part of the box-set "Ultimate Collector's Edition". "In the Dead of Night" and "Mental Medication" were both edited for a single A- and B-side release.
Annette Peacock is an American composer, musician, songwriter, producer, and arranger. She is a pioneer in electronic music who combined her voice with one of the first Moog synthesizers in the late 1960s.
John Goodsall was a British-American progressive rock and jazz fusion guitarist most noted for his work with Brand X, Atomic Rooster, and The Fire Merchants.
Bill Bruford's Earthworks were a British jazz band led by drummer Bill Bruford. The band recorded several albums for Editions EG, Discipline Global Mobile and Summerfold Records.
Yes: Live in Philadelphia 1979 is the video release of a concert by the progressive rock group Yes recorded live at the Philadelphia Spectrum on June 21, 1979. The concert is performed "in the round" with a rotating stage in the centre of the venue. The concert was part of the summer leg of their 1978–1979 tour to support the album Tormato. It would be the last Yes tour to feature founding vocalist Jon Anderson until the band's 1983 reformation, and the final tour to feature keyboardist Rick Wakeman until the 1991 Union tour.
Road Games is an EP by guitarist Allan Holdsworth, released in 1983 through Warner Bros. Records originally on vinyl only; a CD edition was reissued through Gnarly Geezer Records in 2001.
Feels Good to Me is the only solo studio album by former Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford. The band Bruford grew out of the line-up assembled for this album. The album features guitarist Allan Holdsworth, bassist Jeff Berlin, keyboardist Dave Stewart, and ECM stalwart Kenny Wheeler on fluegelhorn. Bruford also enlisted singer-songwriter Annette Peacock and Brand X guitarist John Goodsall. Dave Stewart was a pivotal figure in the music of the Canterbury scene with groups like Egg, Hatfield and the North and National Health, but despite his strong playing presence, the album does not sound much like the Canterbury bands, and is instead closer to contemporaries Brand X.
The Bruford Tapes is a live 1979 album by the British band Bruford, only issued in the United States, Canada and Japan. It was recorded on July 12, 1979 in Roslyn, New York State and originally broadcast on WLIR radio. Shortly before the tour, guitarist Allan Holdsworth left the band and was replaced by his student John Clark, who had played with the prog group Quasar. The show features extended performances of material from the group's previous two albums Feels Good to Me and One of a Kind.
Steve Clarke was born in London, England on 20 November 1959. He is a former member of Quasar and Fastway.
My Mama Never Taught Me How to Cook: The Aura Years 1978–1982 is a compilation album by composer, singer, songwriter, and producer Annette Peacock. It brings together material previously released by the Aura label on X-Dreams (1978), The Perfect Release (1979), and The Collection (1982), and was released by Sanctuary Records in 2004.