BILL BRUFORD’S EARTHWORKS
A (really) big box of jazzy delights.
Bruford’s knack of recruiting superb performers to work with has always stood him in good stead. Following the implosion of King Crimson in the mid-70s, albums such as Feels Good To Me and One Of A Kind benefited from breathtaking support of Allan Holdsworth and Dave Stewart. The period was lavishly documented by the retired drummer, who became Dr Bruford, no less, in 2016, when he released 2017’s multi-disc boxed set, Seems Like A Lifetime Ago.
Now his scholarly gaze has alighted upon his Earthworks projects, which first operated after 80s King Crimson came to a halt and again after he departed the Crimson court for the last time in the 90s. Earthworks Complete does what it says on the box. Collecting 15 titles on 20 CDs and four
DVDs, including numerous unreleased material, it documents Bruford’s growth as a player and a criminally underrated composer in scrupulous detail. A fascinating disc of demo material in which raw midi-generated tunes are placed next to their finished counterparts for comparison, it emphasises the earlier point about Bruford’s shrewd ability to pick good running mates. What were once fairly square tunes elegantly swing once animated by players such as keyboardist/horn player Django Bates and saxophonist Iain Ballamy.
Between the self-titled 1987 debut and 1991’s David Tornproduced All Heaven Broke Loose, the albums in this first period of the group’s existence wear their ambition to be different very proudly. Often shored up with the drive and dynamic articulation usually associated with a rock band, they positively revel in an almost nerdy love of tricksy time sigs, flashy derring-do and the brash disregard of conventional tropes that Bates and Ballamy usually pursued as members of Loose Tubes. Bruford’s keenness on using electronic percussion – improved upon since his first dalliance with it in 80s Crimson – defines much of the sound here. It doesn’t always fly but these records are brimming with ideas; very much the work of someone keen to upset expectations.
In the late 90s and 00s, Earthworks’ focus is more integrated and acoustic. From A Part, And Yet Apart (1999) onwards, the writing is concise, thoughtful and, in some ways, a bit calmer, wearing better over the longer term than some of their more flamboyant predecessors. Tim Garland’s sax and masterful arrangements on 2006’s Underground Orchestra represent a remarkably powerful summation of Earthworks’ different eras writ large for an expanded line-up in celebratory mode. With nothing to prove, Bruford’s retirement is well-earned. Thank goodness he’s left behind treasure chests such as this.
THE WORK OF SOMEONE KEEN TO UPSET EXPECTATIONS…