Winterfold records is one of two record company imprints that has been formed by Bill Bruford to release Bill’s recorded work with the band Bruford and also Bill’s work with keyboard player Patrick Moraz. Whilst initially the label will be releasing the officially released albums from the period 1978-1985 there will also be the opportunity in the future to release material that has in the past only been available on bootleg and perhaps even material that has never seen a commercial release.
Most fans of progressive rock will be more than acquainted with the work of Bill Bruford. Bill first came to prominence with the band Yes when that particular grouping of musicians first came together in 1968. Thirty-five years later and Yes are still treading the boards across the world and indeed in their thirty-sixth year, look to be as popular as they were in their seventies heyday.
Bill Bruford was a member of Yes through the years 1968-1972 and whilst with the band recorded five albums, each of which, was more successful than the previous album. Bill left Yes in 1972 and joined King Crimson, which was possibly the best musical move that Bill could have made. Whilst a member of King Crimson Bill recorded three studio albums and one live album, which was released just after King Crimson’s enigmatic leader Robert Fripp decided to split the band and move onto other projects.
For the next two years Bill played countless sessions and also was briefly a member of the bands National Health, Gong and more famously, Genesis where he played alongside Phil Collins who had just stepped up to the microphone following the departure of Peter Gabriel. Bill was the drummer in the live Genesis situation and was with the band for the majority of 1976 while the band toured their album A Trick Of The Tail.
Following his departure from Genesis Bill Bruford and Allan Holdsworth joined with Eddie Jobson and his former King Crimson bassist John Wetton to form art rockers UK. UK managed one studio album and a fair amount of live activity before the band split in two with Jobson and Wetton remaining with UK and Holdsworth and Bruford returning to Bruford alongside Jeff Berlin and Dave Stewart to record the album One Of A Kind, which picked up where Feels Good To Me Left off.
By the time of the band's next album The Bruford Tapes, which was an official bootleg of sorts, sourced from an American radio broadcast of the band in concert, Allan Holdsworth had left the band for a solo career to be replaced by guitarist John Clark. It was this line-up of Bruford that went on to record the final studio album Gradually Going Tornado.
Following Bruford Bill Bruford worked with another former member of Yes: Patrick Moraz. Whilst they were never in Yes at the same time both Bruford and Moraz’s roots and influences lie in jazz and it was in the mid-eighties that the two musicians came together to record two albums of eclectic drum- and keyboard-based music.Both Music For Piano And Drums and Flags were well-received and included diverse material such as the Max Roach composition This Drum Also Waltzes and self-written material like Living Space.
All of the music recorded by Bill Bruford during the years 1978-1985 has a resonance that still rings loud and true today and is being discovered by a new and eager audience for whom the music and performances remain as fresh and as exciting as it was for those who discovered it the first time around. All of the re-issues will be re-mastered and repackaged for the new generation of fans who want to hear first hand these incredible albums and performances. Of course, for the original fans who perhaps own the albums on vinyl now will be a good opportunity to re-invest in the re-mastered CD re-issues, which were originally only available for a limited time on CD.
Following the albums covered by the time span of the Winterfold label Bill Bruford immersed himself more fully in the jazz world and formed the band Earthworks, which sought to integrate electronic drums and percussion into jazz. Music recorded by Earthworks will be covered by releases on the Summerfold record label imprint.
In closing, across the two record label imprints of Summerfold and Winterfold there is a wealth of richly diverse and satisfying music just waiting to be discovered, all of which has Bill Bruford at the heart of it.
