Re: Your last listen
Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2024 8:38 pm
The Beatles 1967-70 2023 edition
UK 'UK' (1978)
Bruford 'One of a Kind' (1979)
A triptych featuring the boundless talents of Bill Bruford and Allan Holdsworth.
After stints in Genesis and National Health, BB decided to make a solo album and recruited keyboardist Dave Stewart (Egg, Hatfield and the North, National Health), Allan Holdsworth (Soft Machine, Gong) and Canadian bass-meister Jeff Berlin. This outfit called themselves 'Bruford' and made powerful Jazz-Rock in a uniquely recognisable style.
A call from John Wetton had BB and Holdsworth joining in alongside synth/violin wizard Eddie Jobson for the superb Prog-Rock LP 'UK'. The jazzy inflections of BB and AH bring a special quality to this project but Wetton wanted to push the band into a rockier direction and so the two returned to the studio as 'Bruford' again to make 'One of a Kind'.
This second release is, for me, quite simply the finest Jazz-Rock album ever recorded. A focussed, melodic listen that I never tire of hearing. This and : 'Feels Good ...' have been reissued on BB's own Winterfold label with stunning remixes by Jakko Jakszyk. Finally an edition that really shows off the amazing musicianship at work here.
Alongside these I tracked down a Japanese remaster of 'UK' as my ancient CD was lacking definition. The newer version reveals more and is simply way better.
All this has got me looking hard (once again) at the late, great, inspiring Allan Holdsworth and there's a couple of 2nd-hand CD's from a sale due in imminently as part of a gap-filling exercise.
So much music - so little time.
