I've always found myself going back to this recording precisely because one could feel it wasn't a big band drummer playing. It's a very temperate take, and in my opinion proof that cross-contamination between musical cultures is valuable. The more people take themselves out of their comfort zone and into the abyss, the better they get, screw-ups be damned.
This is how I would sound playing with a big band ( well not as good as Bil obviously). My senses just hear too much or something. I find playing with a big uncomfortable and I'm sure sound like it . BB sounds as good as he can. I would imagine if he just did it more he would sound more and more legit.
@@wuckle hey, I'm a great fan of Bill's. I can't see many copying him. But drumming with the BR big band must be like grabbing a tiger by the tale. You'd better grab hold or it'll turn around and bite ya sorry ass. All those players are Alpha 's. It was the culture Buddy created in the band over decades. A formidable seat to fill. Gotta be intimidating to anyone, regardless of who they are.
This is an example of Bill being Bill and not trying to be someone else. Bill Bruford has been my favorite drummer since I was in HIgh School. I'm a 54 year old man now. I knew nothing about Bill Bruford until that one fabulous day when I heard "And you and I" on the radio. He does a cool little lick in that song and I've been hooked ever since. I've been pondering the question as to WHY is Bill my favorite drummer. And after years of pondering, I know the answer. Bill is the most innovative and creative drummer ever born. He plays things that no one else would even think of playing in a song. His creativity is through the roof. Who else could you play a random tune for and instantly recognize the drummer?
That's a great example of an open mind. BB is an exceptional musician. And groundbreaking in the electronic percussion field. I'm a huge fan. But a big band is a different beast. And the BR band is a wild bucking bronco. Impossible shoes for anyone to fill. Actually one of the worst is Carl palmer. Who's a great rock drummer but can't swing. His attempt with the buddy Rich band is truly awful
I had an almost identical thing happen around 30 years ago at a similar age but it was heart of the sunrise and that 'tic' unique thing he does got under my skin and continues to 'irritate' me to this day brought out every time I tap on things I try and defy mathematics, it's like drum tourettes... Nick Mason got me playing the drums but any real progression was limited by an urge to try and work out how BB did it whilst playing with people who just wanted to do 'meat and veg' boring stuff.... With my limited ability I can appreciate the things Bill has been saying all these years about playing with bands that felt stale and then retiring due to having exhausted creativity.... Probably not the greatest drummer that ever lived but in a number of ways the greatest drummer for me... 72-74 you could have wired him up to the power grid and he would have lit up a whole city...
@@lucifersamslittertray K now I am curious. What is this "tic" thing you are referring to? Where in the song? As I said, for me back in junior high, I heard "And you and I" on the radio. There is a part somewhere in the middle when the guitars are stumming up w/o drums getting ready to go into the next section. Bill comes in with this very subtle, hi-hat, snare, open-hi-hat and again hi-hat, snare, open-hi-hat move. It's not the most difficult thing to play at all. It is WHERE he places the beats that makes me get goosebumps. I remember just being blown freaking away by it. After that day, my love for Neil Peart started to subside, and my love for Bill increased so much so that I almost know everything about the dude.
@@whistleblower3516 as you say with and you and I really ,.... somewhere in the opening intro build up of heart of the sunrise he just does these little hi hat-snare touches that catches the attention.... It's that first introduction to that unmistakable snare sound and a hi hat that could be used to set the Greenwich clocks right.... And also as you say where he plays the beat or the note..... Really difficult to put in to words other than to say that if you're into most of the stuff he's done through various bands then it's a style that's in the bloodstream.... I always loved the fact that he flies in the face of drummers who play up to the stereotype of flailing arms and grimacing whilst doing nothing worthwhile etc, BB just looked cool as a cucumber whilst playing some of the hardest of nails stuff looking effortless.... Luckily saw KC in shepherd's Bush 96 with the BB yellow kit....
Bill is a Master Drummer and I really enjoy his approach, completely his own and unique, functional, structural, strong, respecting the arrangement and not trying to sound like anybody else.
Jazz purists might have a problem with the drumming here but, to my untrained ear,it is superb.I always thought Bill was playing jazz even when he was with Yes.To me,The Yes Album is a jazz album.
Bill is the only drummer I know who will change the time signature twice in an f-in tambourine solo! Check out Starless and Bible Black. Will always be my favorite drummer of all time.
As a self taught Prog Rock drummer I, like so many, was influenced by Bill Bruford and would play along to Yes albums, and later, King Crimson in the hope that some his greatness might rub off on me somehow. Bill had a distinct sound back then, and that did "rub off", but the ease of playing complicated time changes was always a challenge, I'd get close but I was but the "Grasshopper to the Master", and a "Bull in the China shop"... Above my basement studio was my Grandson's bedroom, and as he grew, so did his love for music played with feeling and emotion. Fortunately he attended a school with a strong Band component and very quickly learned to read music (which I cannot) and mastered every Percussion instrument at the High School. While in High School he was farmed out to Atlanta area Orchestras and Youth Symphonies, playing various instruments including Marimbas, Xylophones and Timpani. He also spent a month at a local small Collage, with other previously unknown (to him) gifted young percussionists, and quickly learned very complicated duet and quartet passages they played in Concert from memory. Bruford is glancing at the chart here, and after seeing and hearing orchestras and symphonies my 'now at College' Grandson has played with, I no longer have Bill Bruford on a pedestal. He has a gift, but so do many others that never get the recognition and worship that Bill enjoys. My legacy will be that I influenced my musically gifted Grandson... I encourage you to support your local School Band program and to enjoy a Youth Symphony or Orchestra in your area, there are many brilliant young players out there that need your support!
Bill you are my biggest inspiration as a drummer and this is a fantastic performance! I simply cannot thank you enough for all that you have done to advance the art of drumming and music in a broader sense
When I was a little kid back in the (60s). I remember watching Buddy Rich playing the drums on TV 📺 and Absolutely Loved it. Later on in my life I started listening to John Bonham in Led Zeppelin and how he played the drums I wanted to become a drummer myself but it wasn’t meant to be. Bill Bruford is a Very Talented Drummer as well and is Up There with the Best of the Drummers in the World 🌎!!!
I could tell that you were a bit nervous and timid here. Seeing that wall of badarses with horns right across from you? Petrified, I would have been! Still, sounded good and you made it happen!
I have both cd's of this wonderful project and I have to say, very few drummers in there were actually in their comfort zone at all,including the great late neil peart who created the project, despite that everyone though did a fantastic job. it didn't felt as a contest, and you could feel the deep respect for buddy out of each performances, including yours! you knew where to stand with your little knowledge and overall, still sounds wonderful
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Bill and background information leading to your recording this tune with BR Band. I think you did an honorable job. I use to watch Buddy whenever he came to Florida to perform and was fortune enough to meet him. I use to play along with his albums (drums) and Willowcrest was one of my favorites. A swinging - driving with an underlying ease of momentum composition.
Bruford is so talented love his work and especially his contribution to David Torn’s 1987 love “Cloud About Mercury”! Still playing that CD after 36 years it never gets old and I encourage anyone who’s a Bruford fan to give that album a listen!
Bill, you are simply a class act .I have followed you from your days with Yes ,Crimson,UK and beyond.You are simply untouchable. Saw you in 1991 with Yes,still thee best concert I have ever attended.
GRANDE BRUFORD, O MAIS VIRTUOSO DOS MAIS VIRTUOSOS, FODÃO MESMO, IMPROVISO, VERSÁTIL E POLIVALENTE. JOGA NAS 11. NÃO TEM TEMPO RUIM, COMPETENTE E SOLÍCITO. BATE COM TEMPO QUEBRADAÇO E VOLTA TRANQUILÃO.
Mr. Bruford! How amazing you upload these in better quality and then give us a little read to sink our teeth into! Quite honestly, I'm a professional drum teacher and this performance always had me hooked in a peculiar way. I thought you swung in your own special way that kinda made the song feel calm but strong. I've listened to this song in many different versions and this one is my favourite! Thank you again.
@@biltoru.876 I met him after one of his Earthworks concerts, too, and one thing that struck me and other people who were there was how "ordinary" and down to earth he was, very kind, polite and forthcoming to everyone.
You know, out in the world there are some hungry guys who will eat whatever a certain Hr. Bruford throws down. Sometimes the diet is heavier, sometimes lighter. Sometimes it fills you up, and sometimes it could be a bit more. Who likes to change their chef if you are satisfied with him. However, chefs should not rest on their laurels, but also cook something new from time to time. You don't have to get on a tour bus for this, it's easy to do from home nowadays. Send some tapes to Mr. Torn, he will know what to do with 'em. I am still hungry for new BB compositions.
Going to get flamed for saying this, but having listened to several of Buddy Rich's versions of Willowcrest, I don't actually care for them that much. I actually like this version better. My reasons relate to the composition itself. It's a great flowing big band tune with a sort of "quick saunter" pace, lush chords, and a great melody. I want to HEAR that. And, while Buddy's playing on this tune is far more "freed up" and swingy than Bill's, Buddy overplays during the solos and seems to detract a bit from the band itself. I really admire Bill's restraint here in unfamiliar waters, and his decision to give the other players real space. It's a good lesson that goes well beyond drumming and music. The team knows what it's doing, your job is to support them the best you can, even it's not exactly your thing.
Are they recording this in Le Studio? Given the history of that place and Rush, plus the wood wall treatments, I wouldn't be surprised. Edit: Not Le Studio. It was recorded at The Power Station, in NYC.
I mean everyone could have gone in and played exactly like Buddy Rich and sounded the same. I like this tune. The one that swings the best on all these videos is Matt Sorum’s take. You can see the band are locked right into his groove and loving it. I think Bill should have been a bit wilder.
I liked it. Granted it wasn't as flashy as Buddy would have done it, but then nobody could play like Buddy. But I dunno, Dr. B, I think hearing Buddy Rich try to play with King Crimson would have been interesting. But he probably would have fired everyone in mid-gig, anyway.
I love Bill's playing but I'm used to the Buddy version of this chart which has a certain swing that is missing here. The playing is a little too "dead center." It's cool, it's just not traditional big band jazz.
If memory serves, Dr. Bill, you cut another track during this session. Can you post that? Also, any thoughts/comments on the brief time you worked w/ Peart?
The second track was called 'Lingo' and it's already posted on Bill's channel. Bill has described the sessions with Neil Peart over several pages in his 2009 autobiography. Thanks for your interest. Admin
Buddy wouldn’t be happy about anything, more players are playing matched grip these day due to the fact there’s really no difference, maybe trad can be more subtle but for power and over playing matched grip is better.
