Bill Bruford is best known for his work with British bands Yes, King Crimson, Genesis and UK. He has also led his own bands Bruford and the more straight ahead jazz group Earthworks, which he continues to lead. Bill Bruford has also recorded a great many albums with various other like-minded jazz musicians such as Patrick Moraz and Ralph Towner.
Michiel Borstlap is a world-renowned jazz pianist who has also worked with many great jazz musicians over the years, most notably with Jimmy Haslip, Toots Thielmans and Pat Metheny.
These recordings are taken from a personal archive of the dates the Bruford-Borstlap Duo have played since their first meeting at the Nijmegen Festival in Holland, in 2002. The nature of the music is conversational. In a small room, where most of the tracks were recorded, this may have the intimacy of a dinner table conversation between old friends (Round Midnight, Every Step). But in a big hall, things may quite naturally become a lot more muscular and assertive (16 Kingdoms, Swansong). They are quite capable of sounding like a band with three times as many people in it, yet at no time do they lose authorship, identity or immediacy.
The title of this album sets the scene for the pure pleasure found in these recordings, which ably display the passion both Bruford and Borstlap have for free expression and spontaneous performance. Released for the first time on CD these performances will appeal not only to fans of both Bill Bruford and Michiel Borstlap but also to all lovers of cutting edge, spontaneous music of any genre.
The duo's DVD In Concert in Holland BBSF 007 DVD, due for simultaneous release, features an entirely different programme.
