THE BRUFORD TAPES – BRUFORD

Label: Editions EG
Drums, Percussion, Performer [Electric Chat] – Bill Bruford
Electric Bass – Jeff Berlin
Electric Guitar – The 'Unknown' John Clark*
Keyboards [Electric] – Dave Stewart
Tracklist
1 Hells Bells 4:02
2 Sample And Hold 6:18
3 Fainting In Coils 6:34
4 Travels With Myself - And Someone Else 4:37
5 Beelzebub 3:28
6 The Sahara Of Snow (Part One) 4:46
7 The Sahara Of Snow (Part Two) 3:07
8 One Of A Kind (Part Two) 8:06
9 5g 2:39
A live N.Y.C. radio broadcast by Bill Bruford and his band in July 1979, The Bruford Tapes features material from his Feels Good to Me and One of a Kind albums. Although the mix is shaky, the playing is not. Bruford rules the roost with his inimitable "pong" rim-shot sound and droll stage patter, and Dave Stewart's keyboards especially benefit from a heavier, slightly overdriven stage sound. Stewart gets "Hell's Bells" off to a rousing start, and his piano and Hammond sounds nicely embellish "Fainting in Coils"; not to be outdone, Jeff Berlin blazes across "Five G" with some wonderfully frenetic bass playing. This is one of the best Bruford albums of this period; those who found the studio releases of these songs to be too cold will be won over by the improvisational intensity of this live show. (Review by Paul Collins)

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