BRUFORD: FEELS GOOD TO ME

As all we know, Bill Bruford is one of the best and most recognizable drummers ever, with his drumming sound inimitable, known for his ringing metal snare drum, crisp cymbal work, and knack for complex time signatures. He really had truly an amazing and brilliant career. He first gained prominence as the original drummer of prog rock band Yes, from 1968 to 1972. After his departure from Yes, Bruford spent the rest of the 70's playing in King Crimson. He was the touring drummer for Genesis during their 1976 "Trick of The Tail" tour. He was one of the founder members of UK. In 1981 he was part of a newly formed King Crimson. In 1989, with some of his ex-band mates of Yes, he formed Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. From 1991 to 1992 he returned to Yes. In 1994 King Crimson re-emerged and he was present.

But, besides all of that, after he left UK due to some overall musical divergences, Bruford formed his own band named, Bruford. So, with his ex-collegue of UK, the guitarist Allan Holdsworth that had been fired from UK by John Wetton and Eddie Jobson, and with two other musicians, Dave Stewart a very well known keyboardist that had played with several bands of the Canterbury scene and Jeff Berlin an American jazz fusion bassist, he released "Feels Good To Me".

"Feels Good To Me" is the debut solo studio album of Bill Bruford and was released in 1978. The line up on the album is Allan Holdsworth (electric guitar), Dave Stewart (keyboards and synthesizers), Jeff Berlin (bass) and Bill Bruford (drums and percussion). The album had also the participation of Annette Peacock (vocals), John Clark (electric guitar), John Goodsall (rhythm guitar), Kenny Wheeler (flugelhorn) and Neil Murray (bass).

"Feels Good To Me" goes far beyond the usual prog rock conceits of its time, and enters fully into the compositional structures and improvisational dynamics of jazz. With "Feels Good To Me" Bruford proved to be not only a great drummer but an excellent composer as well, as he wrote or co-wrote all of the album's tracks. While Bruford's signature style, a mathematically precise approach that never failed to find the innate groove in even the most complex of time signatures, it was in clear evidence that the album didn't sound like a drummer's solo album. The emphasis was put mostly on composition. It's also clearly evident that the other members of the band had ample room to demonstrate their formidable talents, and above all, there wasn't any drum solo that can be found on this album. Bruford made it clear from the get-go that his role as bandleader was to be that of an equal contributor rather than a dominant voice.

So, "Feels Good To Me" consists of compositions of Bruford, with some support from Stewart. This is quite surprising, as Bruford has not been noticed in any of his previous bands as a composer. The ten songs oscillate between slender jazz rock with intricate lines and a prog with a very bright basic sound. There's no particularly rocking here. This is due to the fact that the guitar is almost only used as a melodic instrument, nor outstandingly bombastic, neither very weird passages. Still, one or other melody line can't necessarily be described as particularly catchy and some exciting chord progressions are built, which usually lead to a guitar solo. Of course, there are many crooked and intricate rhythms, but also straighter spots, and usually more vigorous songs are contrasted with subsequent calmer, more ballade pieces.

Bruford's play is always lean and compositional and lives above all on the differentiated cymbal work and its already legendary bright snare sound. Above all, the moving pieces with often hectic, tattered melody lines of Bruford's work on vibraphone and xylophone, which doubles the lines together with keyboards or guitar, also live here. Stewart mainly uses electric piano and polymoog synths, plus a little piano and organ, but not nearly as much as in his earlier projects. Holdsworth is practically responsible only for melody lines and fast paced, tricky jazzy solos. In the long run they sound a bit alike, but it's great how fluent and clean his sound is. The chord work is essentially in Stewart's hands. In the few places where a bit of rhythm guitar occurs, this takes over John Goodsall, known from Phil Collins' jazz rock project, Brand X. Jeff Berlin's bass work is consistently outstanding and a source of joy. Somehow, the elastic sound, quick fingers, but still enough foundation memories of Jaco Pastorius are awake, and that is saying something, isn't it?

Conclusion: Overall, "Feels Good To Me" is a thoroughly enjoyable, unexpectedly jazzy debut album that is highly recommended to any friend of fluent, prog jazz rock/fusion. The musicianship along with the production is superb. Bruford's cymbal action is quite nice and the excellence of Dave Stewart's keyboards is always a good thing. About the arrangements on this album, we have the predictable late 70's fusion. Annette Peacock's atmospheric vocals make the album especially pleasing. On balance, the album represents an intriguing new musical direction, combining the jazziest parts of the Canterbury scene with the best of other traditions of jazz fusion. If you are in prog rock jazz/fusion, this is certainly an album you should look into. Catch a buzz, sit back, chill out and enjoy some very real cool music.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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