Bill Bruford

Bill Bruford took up music and drumming at the age of 12. By age 27, his musical character had already been forged in the fiery furnace of four of the biggest progressive rock groups of the day; Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, and UK. Early success propelled Bill, by nature a restless innovator uncomfortable with the well-worn path, into a long and fruitful career as a bandleader and writer. Groups such as Bruford and Earthworks led the way with advanced harmony in electric rock in the 1970s & 80s; samples, electronics, and odd-metres in electric jazz in the 90s; and stylistic innovation with strong compositional identity in his current 21st century acoustic jazz. His taste for the unpredictable in live performance has led him to collaborations with countless of the world’s top rock and jazz musicians, in an endless search for the innovative, the unusual, and the unlikely. For forty years after his beginnings in progressive rock, Bruford remained a vital force in all things percussive. His life’s work is well documented on CD and DVD at Summerfold and Winterfold Records, in his book ‘Bill Bruford: The Autobiography’ (2009), and at www.billbruford.com. Dr. Bruford retired from public performance in 2009 and was awarded his PhD from the University of Surrey for his work in the area of drummers and creative music performance in April 2016. he was inducted into the rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes in 2017, and his current volume 'Uncharted: Creativity and the Expert Drummer' was published by the University of Michigan Press in early 2018.