Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (album)

Last updated

Bruford Levin Upper Extremities
Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (album) cover.jpg
Studio album by
Released1998
StudioMake Believe Ballroom, West Shokan, New York, Bill Bruford's house, Tony Levin's house and garage, The Loop Pool (David Torn's studio), and the Gypsy Wolf Cantina, Woodstock, New York
Genre Progressive rock, jazz rock
Length52:47
Label Papa Bear Records
Producer Tony Levin [1]
Bruford Levin Upper Extremities chronology
Bruford Levin Upper Extremities
(1998)
B.L.U.E. Nights
(2000)

Bruford Levin Upper Extremities is a self-titled album by the band Bruford Levin Upper Extremities. It is their only studio recording, released on Tony Levin's independent label Papa Bear Records. Formed by bassist Levin and drummer Bill Bruford (who had worked together as the rhythm section of King Crimson), the group also included guitarist David Torn and trumpeter Chris Botti. Torn, Bruford and Levin had recorded together on Torn's album Cloud About Mercury ten years before this.

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]

In a review for The Washington Post , Mike Joyce described the album as "an unusually large and colorful musical mosaic," stating that it "alludes, intentionally or not, to a lot of pop, rock and jazz musicians and bands." He concluded: "for all the album's obvious reference points, the musicians are too stubbornly willful to fall into any groove for long." [3]

S. Victor Aaron of Something Else! praised the track titled "Cracking the Midnight Glass," calling it "a mash-up of contrasting styles that's like the cherry on a sundae for those who like these collisions of genres. I know I do." [4]

Writing for Exposé Online, Jeff Melton called the album a "remarkable work led by possibly one of the best rhythm sections in modern music," and commented: "Although not as dark as any Crimson recording, B.L.U.E. is a shining ring on the challenging clasp where rock meets jazz." [5]

Track listing

  1. "Cerulean Sea" 7:03
  2. "Interlude" 0:23
  3. "Original Sin" 4:55
  4. "Etude Revisited" 4:57
  5. "A Palace of Pearls (On a Blade of Grass)" 5:33
  6. "Interlude" 0:19
  7. "Fin de Siècle" 5:22
  8. "Drumbass" 0:54
  9. "Cracking the Midnight Glass" 6:06
  10. "Torn Drumbass" 0:54
  11. "Thick With Thin Air" 3:28
  12. "Cobalt Canyons" 3:53
  13. "Interlude" 0:27
  14. "Deeper Blue" 4:12
  15. "Presidents Day" 6:22

Personnel

Bruford Levin Upper Extremities
Production

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Bruford</span> English drummer

William Scott Bruford is an English former 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) and Roy Harper (1975), and touring with Genesis (1976) and U.K. (1978). In 1978, he formed his own group (Bruford), which was active until 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Levin</span> American bassist

Anthony Frederick Levin is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel. He is also a member of Liquid Tension Experiment, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (1998–2000) and HoBoLeMa (2008–2010). He has led his own band, Stick Men, since 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.K. (band)</span> British progressive rock supergroup

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.

<i>Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal</i> 1998 live album by King Crimson

Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal is a live album by the band King Crimson, recorded 11 July 1984, and released in 1998. This was taken from the final night of their 1984 tour and would subsequently be King Crimson's last performance until the warm-up shows in Argentina ten years later for the later-to-be-released album THRAK.

<i>Jazz Café Suite</i> 2003 live album by King Crimson as ProjeKct One

Jazz Café Suite is a live album by ProjeKct One, one of the four sub-groups known as ProjeKcts into which the band King Crimson 'fraKctalised' from 1997 to 1999. The album was released by Discipline Global Mobile records in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Botti</span> American trumpeter and composer (born 1962)

Christopher Stephen Botti is an award-winning American trumpeter and composer.

<i>Nashville Rehearsals</i> 2000 compilation album by King Crimson

Nashville Rehearsals is an album of studio sessions and rehearsals by the band King Crimson, released through the King Crimson Collectors' Club in November 2000. The band were working towards a new King Crimson studio album, but decided progress was unsatisfactory and did not develop these ideas further.

<i>Live in Mexico City</i> (King Crimson album) 1999 live album by King Crimson

Live in Mexico City is a live album by band King Crimson, first released as a free Windows Media Audio download in 1999. Some tracks later appeared on the live albums Cirkus: The Young Persons' Guide to King Crimson Live (1999) and Vrooom Vrooom (2001), and as part of the expanded "THRAK BOX" in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe</span> British rock band

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe was an English progressive rock band active from 1988 to 1990 that comprised four past members of the English progressive rock band Yes. Singer Jon Anderson left Yes as he felt increasingly constrained by their commercial and pop-oriented direction in the 1980s. He began an album with other members from the band's 1970s era: guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and drummer Bill Bruford, plus bassist Tony Levin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Torn</span> American guitarist, composer, and producer

David M. Torn is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping.

Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (B.L.U.E.) was a musical group consisting of drummer Bill Bruford, bassist Tony Levin, guitarist David Torn, and trumpeter Chris Botti.

<i>B.L.U.E. Nights</i> 2000 live album by Bruford Levin Upper Extremities

B.L.U.E. Nights is a live album by Bruford Levin Upper Extremities, recorded on their 1998 tour in the United States, and released on Tony Levin's Papa Bear Records label in 2000. It features bassist Levin, guitarist David Torn, trumpeter Chris Botti, and drummer Bill Bruford playing instrumentals that blend jazz, rock, and experimental music. Some of the pieces were improvised in concert.

<i>Live at the Jazz Café</i> 1998 live album by King Crimson, as ProjeKct One

Live at the Jazz Café is a live album released in 1998 by ProjeKct One, a sub-group of King Crimson. Live at the Jazz Café was included as part of the 1999 box set The ProjeKcts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funk fingers</span>

Funk Fingers are a kind of drumstick that attach to the fingers of a bass player for producing percussive, funky sounds on a bass guitar. They were created by Tony Levin and his guitar tech, Andy Moore. The aim was to recreate the effect of drumming on the strings of one’s bass as done by drummer Jerry Marotta for Peter Gabriel’s song “Big Time” when recording the album So. They later appeared on the songs “Steam” and “Secret World”, also by Peter Gabriel, and Levin can be seen playing them on the video and DVD release Secret World Live.

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.

London, Jazz Café, England – December 4, 1997 is a live album by ProjeKct One, one of the four sub-groups known as ProjeKcts into which the band King Crimson 'fraKctalised' from 1997 to 1999. The album was released as a download on DGM Live in 2005 and is organized into two sets designed to fit on two CDs. In 2006, seven minutes of additional audio was discovered by DGM and the complete set replaced the former version. This version was made available free of charge to purchasers of the previous edition. The cover art is available for download in the form of a PDF file and the music is available in the MP3 and FLAC formats.

<i>All Heaven Broke Loose</i> 1991 studio album by Bill Brufords Earthworks

All Heaven Broke Loose is the third album by Bill Bruford's Earthworks, featuring Django Bates, Iain Ballamy and Tim Harries. It was released on EG Records in 1991. It was co-produced by experimental guitarist David Torn, with whom Bruford had played extensively in the 1980s (and would go on to do again in Bruford Levin Upper Extremities in 1998-2000.

<i>Cloud About Mercury</i> 1987 studio album by David Torn

Cloud About Mercury is the second album by guitarist David Torn, supported by Mark Isham, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford. It was recorded in 1986 and released on the ECM label in March 1987.

<i>Live at the Orpheum</i> 2015 live album by King Crimson

Live at the Orpheum is a live album by the band King Crimson, released by Discipline Global Mobile records in 2015. The album was recorded on 30 September and 1 October at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California on the band's The Elements of King Crimson US tour of 2014.

<i>If Summer Had Its Ghosts</i> 1997 studio album by Bill Bruford with Ralph Towner and Eddie Gómez

If Summer Had Its Ghosts is an album by drummer Bill Bruford on which he is joined by guitarist Ralph Towner and bassist Eddie Gómez. It was recorded in West Shokan, New York, in February 1997, and was released later that year by Discipline Global Mobile.

References

  1. "Bill Bruford, Tony Levin With David Torn, Chris Botti – Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (1998, Digipak, CD)". discogs.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  2. Deupree, Caleb. Bruford Levin Upper Extremities at AllMusic. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  3. Joyce, Mike (10 April 1998). "Bill Bruford and Ton Levin: Bruford Levin Upper Extremities". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  4. Aaron, S. Victor (28 September 2007). "One Track Mind: Bruford Levin Upper Extremities, "Cracking The Midnight Glass" (1999)". Something Else!. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  5. Melton, Jeff (1 July 1998). "Reviews: Bruford Levin — Upper Extremities". Exposé Online. Retrieved 30 November 2022.