My first trip to London was in 1977, during the Queen's "Silver Jubilee". During that visit, I was able to catch many of my favorite European musicians of the day, Genesis, Gong, Jean Luc Ponty, and the incredible drummer Bill Bruford. In those days, the BBC also produced the critically acclaimed "Rock Goes to College" series, at Oxford's Polytechnic Institute. Now, some 30 years later, comes the release of one of the best of those concerts, a Special Edition copy of the brand-new Winterfold Records DVD, "Bruford : Rock Goes To College."This classic 42 minute all-regions concert DVD was filmed at Oxford Polytechnic March 7th 1979. The band only made two appearances in its short life, both on national UK TV shows, with this being the second of the two. It was a groundbreaking electric rock group four of whose members- Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Berlin, Annette Peacock and Bill Bruford- already possessed or went on to develop, individual voices within jazz. Keyboardist Dave Stewart subsequently achieved substantial success in the pop singles world with Barbara Gaskin.
This DVD is released initially as a Special Edition, limited to 500 copies, and only purchaseable by mail-order at www.brufordrockgoestocollege.co.uk , before reverting to general release. Special Edition copies only will be numbered, autographed by all five members of the group, and come in Special Edition artwork. "Bruford organically fuses jazz's harmonic and melodic breadth with the rhythmic impetuosity and electric bite of rock. Bruford's concepts take a backseat to no-one; not Weather Report, Gary Burton, Terje Rypdal or John McLaughlin...", wrote Downbeat Magazine, Sounds UK called it "...brimming with some of the most creative talent in contemporary improvisational music..."
"For ten years, through sojourns with King Crimson, Yes, Genesis and other bands, Bruford has steadily increased his reputation as one of the world's most intelligent and accomplishes percussionists," wrote the Sunday Times UK back in 1979.
Bruford and his group first came to the United States in 1978, in it's first incarnation, called "U.K.", with guitarist Holdsworth of the Soft Machine, bassist John Wetton of King Crimson and keyboard/violinist Eddie Jobson, who replaced Brian Eno in Roxy Music. Recording on Robert Fripp's E.G. label, Wetton and Jobson ultimately parted ways with the jazz oriented Bruford and Holdsworth, who didn't want to continue in a rock vein.
In a compromise, Fripp gave Bruford the green light to continue under his own name, and the group with Stewart, Berlin and Peacock was born. Holdsworth recorded only two albums with the band, "Feels Good to Me", and the amazing "One of a Kind". With Holdsworth's fame spreading, and tours with Jean Luc Ponty and the late, great drummer Tony Williams looming, Holdsworth departed for good. When the band finally arrived in the U.S. for the 1980 tour, Holdsworth had been replaced by the guitarist jokingly referred to as, the "unknown" John Clark. A live album, "The Bruford Tapes", and their final studio album, "Gradually Going Tornado" would follow, and signal the end of one of jazz rock's greatest ensembles.
I was fortunate to see the original "U.K.", (which opened for jazz guitarist Al DiMeola), at the old Painter's Mill in Maryland in 1978, the "Bruford" band in 1980 at the now defunct Bayou in D.C., and one of the first to own a signed, limited edition copy of this quite unique band in concert, (after years of seeing all the horrible copies and bootlegs floating around on ebay), however more unsigned copies will be available. For clips from the DVD, more information and purchase details go to www.brufordrockgoestocollege.co.uk.
