Drummer Bill Bruford is one of my favorite drummers. Of course, he is primarily known for his work with progressive rock bands like Yes, King Crimson, U.K. and Genesis, but he is also an accomplished jazz musician.
In the mid-80s he formed a jazz band called Earthworks. It was not a traditional jazz band in any sense. It wasn’t even typical jazz rock or fusion. Bill and the band was going down a very unique path.
The uniqueness starts with the instrumentation. The original lineup of Earthworks included Iain Ballamy on saxophones, Mick Hutton on acoustic stand-up bass, and Djaongo Bates on trumpets and keyboards. Bill almost exclusively played electronic Simmons drums (although he mixed them with acoustic cymbals and other embellishments). Unlike most other jazz fusion at the time, the instrumentation was basically backwards: everything was acoustic EXCEPT for the drums!
It was also a global band since the players were from London, New York and Los Angeles.
Here is some cool footage of Bill Bruford and Earthworks that originally aired on VH1 (of all places!) for a show called New Visions back in 1987, soon after the release of their self-titled first record. Of particular note is the songs “Up North” and “My Heart Declares a Holiday” near the end of the episode. Note the unique nature of Bruford’s playing on the Simmons drums. He plays very melodic figures and not just straight beats:
Guitarist David Torn also appears in the episode playing a pretty wild guitar solo layered with tons of effects. Very cool!
To say that Bill Bruford was enamored with Simmons drums in the late 1980s and early 1990s is an understatement. He was definitely all-in on the new technology. He was convinced they were superior to acoustic drums.
For example, check out this wild drum solo he played during “Long Distance Runaround” with Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe in 1989:
He even took the Simmons drums on the ill-fated Union tour with Yes. Here is a drum duet with Alan White on that 1991 tour:
After the first Earthworks album and tour Tim Harries took over the bass duties. Along with the acoustic bass he also played electric fretless bass which expanded the group’s sound.
They put out a couple more studio albums: Dig? in 1989 and All Heaven Broke Loose in 1991. The records are good, but Earthworks was a much better live band. In fact, the longer they played together the arrangements of the songs (especially the earlier material) sounded more fluid and interesting. Luckily, they recorded a live album on their final tour in 1992. That album is called Stamping Ground and is today’s pick!
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Stamping Ground includes songs from all three of the Earthworks records, so it also acts as a fine “greatest hits” compilation of the group. It was recorded over 3 nights: March 14th & 15th 1992 at The Bottom Line in New York City and March 18th 1992 at The Nightstage in Boston. They were firing on all cylinders on those nights.
The album opens with “Nerve” (originally on All Heaven Broke Loose) and it is a barn burner. Here is the band performing it a few months earlier in Tokyo in December 1991:
One of the wildest songs they played was “Emotional Shirt” which contains a head-spinning amount of twists and turns. Here they are playing it at that same show in Tokyo:
Earthworks wasn’t all bombast. Another highlight is the ballad “Candles Still Flicker in Romania’s Dark”. An exceptionally emotional tune. Absolutely beautiful:
“Up North” is also included on Stamping Ground and you can hear how it has expanded in scope from that early performance on VH1. This version from a show in Stuttgart in 1991 has a similar arrangement:
Bill Bruford plays an excellent drum solo (a fun mix of acoustic and electronic drums) on “Bridge of Inhibition”:
The final song on Stamping Ground might be the best of them all: “Hotel Splendour”. It is practically a prog rock epic switching between a jazzy swing and a militaristic marching band stomp:
Unfortunately, this version of Earthworks broke up soon after the recordings on Stamping Ground. Bill Bruford went back to King Crimson for a bit and then swore off of the electronic drums. He started a completely new version of Earthworks in 1997 as a more traditional, acoustic jazz ensemble with none of the original members. While they were good at what they did, I didn’t find it nearly as interesting or unique as the original lineup. Stamping Ground remains the definitive Earthworks recording, showcasing a band that spoke in a completely original language that I don’t think any other band explored. It still sounds like it came from outer space 33 years after it was recorded!
