Bill Bruford’s outstanding jazz-rock-fusion album Feels Good to Me (1978) figures prominently in this 3 CD set, with a crack band of Allan Holdsworth on guitar, Dave Stewart (Egg etc.) on keyboards and Jeff Berlin on bass. The two longest pieces, Back to the Beginning and Adios a la pasada (Goodbye to the Past), were the standouts, embellished by Annette Peacock‘s vocalisations, and are included along with Seems Like A Lifetime Ago parts one and two and Sample and Hold (opening salvo Beelzebub also appears at the end of CD 3 as we turn full circle). For One of a Kind (1979) the group name Bruford was adopted and the adrenalizing Hell’s Bells, a co-write with Alan Gowen of National Health, along with Travels with Myself and Someone Else are included; it's a pity though that there was no room for the Alice in Wonderland inspired Fainting in Coils. The third and final solo/ Bruford album Gradually Going Tornado (1980) leaned more towards progressive rock, and is represented by Age of Information and The Sliding Floor, although perhaps the inclusion of four tracks from Bruford’s collaborations with Patrick Moraz might raise a few eyebrows in the ‘Best of’ CD One.
CD two covers the period when Bruford formed his jazz fusion group, Earthworks, blending electronic percussion with traditional jazz instruments, and creating an environment for upcoming British jazz musicians in a new form of acoustic blended with electronic jazz. Iain Ballamy (alto, soprano and tenor sax) and Django Bates (tenor sax, trumpet and keyboards) were 21 and 25 respectively. Dave Stewart produced, and added keyboards and samples. Up North and My Heart Declares a Holiday are the two selected tracks from their eponymous 1987 debut. On sophomore album Dig? (1989) bassist Tim Harries ex-Steeleye Span came in for Mick Hutton, and it was hard to get past the music programming and sound of Bruford’s Simmon’s electronic drum kit despite the innovatory approach of Stromboli Kicks and Pilgrim’s Way, both included here, along with the excellent Ballamy ballad It Nearly End in Tears which featured Barbara Gaskin on vocals. A nice play on words, All Heaven Broke Loose (1991), was produced by jazz guitar loop specialist David Torn. Bates’ Candles Still Flicker in Romania was an exceptional opening piece and a wise choice along with Temple of the Winds and Nerve.
Earthworks Mark I disbanded in September, 1993. Disappointed by the unreliability of his Simmons drums, Bruford decided to revert to a more acoustically based jazz rock fusion. The recruitment of French saxophonist Patrick Clahar, acoustic bassist Mark Hodgson and young Scottish pianist Steve Hamilton heralded a short golden era for Earthworks 2 and A Part, And Yet Apart (1999) is represented by Dewey-Eyed and Dancing and No Truce with the Furies. The Sound of Surprise (2001) proved that tricky time signatures do not necessarily detract from the infectious rhythms and melodies of up-tempo pieces like Revel Without a Pause, and showed what a perfect foil Clahar was for Bruford’s intricate beats; there were progressive inclinations aswell in an ambitious 3-part suite.
CD three covers the period from If Summer Had Its Ghosts (1997), a collaboration with guitarist/ keyboardist Ralph Towner and bassist Eddie Gomez and represented by the title track and Thistledown. Footloose and Fancy Free is taken from a live recording at the Pizza Express Jazz club in Soho in 2001, while The 16 Kingdoms of the 5 Barbarians is one of three tracks from Bruford’s recordings with Dutch keyboardist Michiel Borstlap. These are twilight recordings from the final Summerfield Years before Bill Bruford’s retirement and a valuable part of the history of one of progressive rock and jazz’s greatest drummers.
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