Description

As a member of Yes and King Crimson during their glory days, Bill Bruford quickly established a reputation as being one of the most technically accomplished rock percussionists. His work on albums such as "Fragile" and "Red" admirably showcased his distinctively sharp, complex drum patterns. After Crimson folded he spent a few years as a jobbing drummer, filling in spots for the likes of Genesis and National Health. After an abortive grouping with John Wetton and Rick Wakemen, he ventured a first solo album. Now, a solo album by a drummer does not sound like a good idea. Very few have the necessarymore… compositional skills to pull it off. In fact the only other drummer that immediately comes to mind is Billy Cobham. But on this first album Bruford surrounded himself with exemplary musicians to produce a really accomplished album. There is very little of Yes or King Crimson here. This is nearer to jazz-rock territory, though probably more in keeping with the likes of National Health, Gilgamesh and Brand X. It's no surprise that the keyboardist from National Health, Dave Stewart makes a strong contribution to Bruford's album, both compositionally and as a musician. The other really significant musician here is guitarist Allan Holdsworth. His lightning speed, feathery touch produces some wonderful solos and guitar fills throughout. The addition of American vocalist Annette Peacock was a masterstroke too. Her liquid, jazzy vocals add menace and sensuality to the excellent "Back to the Beginning" and "Seems Like a Lifetime Ago". The pure tone of Kenny Wheeler on flugelhorn also adds class to the proceedings. He really shines on the beautifully elegiac "Springtime in Siberia". The rhythm section is completed by American bassist Jeff Berlin who with his deep funky tones is an unusual, but refreshing partner for Bruford, who was used to the more studious English prog bassists such as Chris Squire and John Wetton. This was a great opening shot by Bruford. He really proved that he could write interesting and catchy music. Groups such as Finneus Gauge and Thieves Kitchen would use this album as inspiration for their own work many years later, such is the mark it has made. After this Bruford would form UK with Holdsworth, Wetton and Eddie Jobson but after that partnership floundered after one album,he put together his own band with the core members from "Feels Good to Me". Unbelievably this album has never been released in the UK on CD before, so it's kudos to Bruford for setting up his Winterfold label in order to re-release his back catalogue. The remastering is excellent and really brings out the top notch production of the original recording and the details in the instrumentation, particularly Brufords delicate touches on cymbals and assorted percussion and the breathiness of Annette Peacocks vocals. One minus point is the uninspired layout of the accompanying booklet, with poorly produced typography and garish reproduction of the original artwork. This seems like a direct reproduction of the original US CD release. I would have expected something a bit more classy than this really. Coming up next is "One of a Kind" by the Bruford band of Stewart, Holdsworth, Berlin and the man himself. If anything, it's even better than this excellent debut.

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Info:

Category:

Music > Albums

Case Type:

CD

Release Type:

Retail

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Cover Info:

Title:

Bill Bruford - Feels Good to Me (2005) Retail CD

Part:

Front

Dimensions:

784 x 785 px

Size:

150 KB

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Report a Problem Wrong Cover Duplicate Image Bad Quality Wrong Info

31/05/07 by Menta

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