THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW…
When Bill Bruford settles down in front of his computer to talk to Prog, he is, of course, precisely on time. He’s sat in his home office in Surrey and his Zoom backdrop displays an undulating range of rugged fells speckled with grass and scree, nestling under a blue sky. Attired in a smartly pressed country check shirt and a practical-looking gilet, he looks very much like a doctor about to undertake a consultation with a nervous patient. It’s worryingly easy to imagine this genial 72-year-old, who was inducted into the Rock & Rock Hall Of Fame in 2017, leaning forward and starting the conversation with a polite but firm, “Now, what seems to be the trouble?”
“I like to upset things though not all the time. But there will be an element of upsetting things. You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs and it’s within the musician’s lifestyle, I think, that you’re going to have to suffer somewhere.”
In fact, this morning’s chat is prompted by the release of the six-CD Making A Song And Dance, a new box set covering the drummer’s entire career. It’s a very personal selection that includes Yes, King Crimson, UK, ABWH, tracks from his solo and Earthworks albums, and numerous guest appearances with artists as diverse as Roy Harper, Piano Circus, and the Buddy Rich Band. “This isn’t something I’ve done overnight,” explains Bruford. “Obviously, there’s a certain amount of editorial stuff going on. It took something like six or seven months to select the 70 tracks spread across these six discs.”
The Beat Master
What Bruford means to me.
“He’s the epitome of a prog drummer because he could rock. He could also play parts and he had such a wide range of how he could play his instrument.”
Rick Wakeman*
With his customary fastidiousness, Bruford has organised the music into four distinct categories. “There’s collaborations that involve working with Yes and Crimson, for example. The Bruford band and Earthworks come under the heading of The Composing Leader. My work in duos, firstly with Patrick Moraz
