Earthworks

Bill Bruford

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 30, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1987
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Editions Eg Records
• ASIN: B000003S36
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #148,691 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cerebral and funky, September 16, 1998

By A Customer

I, too, think the online reviewer is too uptight. Bruford's Earthworks work convincingly in several different musical languages: traditional jazz, free jazz, and a sort of world-music based fusion. No rock fusion here. That they can make these three idioms coexist and provide internal (albeit demanding) structure to each composition is a tribute to their musicianship. The real star is Django Bates--a virtuoso pianist and E flat horn player. He's up and coming, recently won the Vadpar Prize in Norway for best European jazz composer and arranger. Here's your chance to see what he's up to early on--and it'll knock your socks off.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Music., October 14, 2001

By	eric morton (Brighton, England) - See all my reviews

I first heard this album 12 or so years ago. It was thrilling then, the ensemble playing is beautifully thought out and executed,and the solo playing is of the highest order. It remains as impressive now;the textural quality of the music is quite unlike any other at that time or since,and the flow of harmonic and rhythmic ideas is fascinatingly explored and resolved by some of the most gifted musicians on the planet.However , it is music first and last, and messrs Bruford,Ballamy and Bates would themselves not be keen on comparisons with, and reference to, rock, jazz, trad{are you sure?]etc by other reviewers.This great music stands up all by itself.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mixing and Matching Styles, February 27, 2004

By	Scott McFarland (Manassas, VA United States) - See all my reviews

These guys were very committed to ambitiously mixing and matching musical styles into a unique stew, in a good-humored way. They also used unusual instrumentation - Bruford playing chordal backing on his electronic drums at times, and Django Bates moving from keyboards to harmonizing on his "peck horn" when appropriate.

The album is slightly tentative as compared to what this band became in concert. And it uses overdubs and processed sound more than later efforts - which undercuts the band's whole raison d'ete I think. They're at their best when they play live music on the spot. It's a good if not great listen but I prefer their subsequent albums which are a bit more idiosynchratic. The only track here that sounds as if it were recorded for maximum artistic effect is "Bridge of Inhibition".