Bill Bruford

<html> <head> <title>Bill Bruford</title> <meta name="googlebot" content="noodp"> <meta name="robots" content="noodp"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/silly-nndb-icon.png" /><style type="text/css">  </style></head> <body bgcolor=#ffffff> <center> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td valign=top><table width=550 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td bgcolor=white><table width="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" background="/nndb.gif"> <tr> <td rowspan="2" align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.nndb.com/"><img src="/title.gif" width="260" height="50" border=0 alt="NNDB"></a></td> <td><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6"> <tr align="center"> <td width="25%" nowrap><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is a beta version of NNDB</font></b></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right" valign="middle"><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <form action="http://search.nndb.com/search/nndb.cgi" method="get"> <input type="hidden" name="nndb" value="1"></input> <nobr>Search: <select name="omenu"> <option value="unspecified" selected>All Names</option> <option value="living">Living people</option> <option value="dead">Dead people</option> <option value="bands">Band Names</option> <option value="books">Book Titles</option> <option value="movies">Movie Titles</option> <option value="fulltext">Full Text</option> </select> for <input name="query" value="" size=24 maxlength=96> <input type=submit value="Search"> </font></b></nobr></form></td> </tr> </table>        </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=red height=2></td></tr><map name=fool><area coords="102,0,240,14" href="/people/970/000034868/bibliography/" alt="bibliography"></map><tr bgcolor=F0F0F0><td bgcolor=F0F0F0 style="padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px;"><img src="/red-profile-2.gif" align="right" height=15 width=240 border=0 usemap=#fool><br clear="all"><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=F0F0F0><font size=+3 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Bill Bruford</b></font><p><img src="bruford03.jpg" height=245 width=190 align=right hspace=10 vspace=10 alt="Bill Bruford"><b>AKA</b> William Scott Bruford<p><b>Born:</b> <a href="/lists/655/000106337/" class=proflink>17-May</a>-<a href="/lists/948/000105633/" class=proflink>1949</a><br><b>Birthplace:</b> Sevenoaks, Kent, England<br><p><b>Gender:</b> Male<br><b>Race or Ethnicity:</b> White<br><b>Sexual orientation:</b> Straight<br><b>Occupation:</b> <a href="/lists/990/000096702/" class=proflink>Drummer</a><p><b>Nationality:</b> England<br><b>Executive summary:</b> Drummer for <i>King Crimson</i><p>The passion of Bill Bruford's life has been jazz -- which makes it a bit ironic that he has spent most of his life in rock bands. No other drummer is more closely associated with the so-called "progressive" rock genre, being that Bill has been in quite a number of the most notable ones at one time or another.<p> His first big break came after joining <a href="/music/989/000034887/">Yes</a> in 1968, a band that would be one of the first and most influential working in the idiom that has since been branded with the <i>p</i>-word. To the surprise of many, Bill bailed out of the Yes boat just as their popularity was reaching it's high water mark in 1972 and joined <a href="/music/984/000034882/">King Crimson</a> -- having been lured away by the promise of a more challenging musical direction, as well as by <a href="/people/471/000024399/">Robert Fripp</a>'s unspeakable Wiccan rituals. In 1975 Crimson was also reaching the height of its popularity when Bruford again made a career change, but this time not by his own choice: Fripp, fed up with the music industry, had decided to dissolve the band. Brief associations with <a href="/music/983/000034881/">Genesis</a> and <a href="/people/975/000034873/">Roy Harper</a> (among others) followed, and in 1977 he formed his own band <a href="/music/330/000035225/">Bruford</a>, a jazz-fusion combo that finally had him where his heart was.<p> Never one to pass up a challenge, Bruford took the call when King Crimson reformed in 1981, having recently completed a short stint with the band <a href="/music/527/000038413/">UK</a> with his former King Crimson cohort <a href="/people/969/000034867/">John Wetton</a>. It was during this period that Bill began exploring the use of electronic drums, which were still at a relatively primitive stage of development. Throughout his subsequent tenure with Crimson -- and also with <a href="/music/685/000038571/">Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe</a>, a project that reunited him with his Yes band mates during yet another Crimson hiatus -- he continued to be on the cutting edge of drum technology.<p> That is, until he decided he'd had enough of that electronic nonsense, and switched back to a purely acoustic kit with <a href="/music/987/000034885/">Earthworks</a>, a band he had founded back in 1996, and which had been intermittently active between his other commitments. Beginning in 1999, his role in Earthworks became the main focus of his musical concerns.<p><b>Wife:</b> Carolyn Bruford (m. 2-Mar-1973, two sons, one daughter)<br><p>    University: <a href="/edu/834/000068630/">University of Leeds</a><br><p>    <a href="/music/989/000034887/">Yes</a> Drummer (1968-72 and 1991)<br>    <a href="/music/984/000034882/">King Crimson</a> Drummer (1972-75, 1981-84, and 1994-97)<br>    <a href="/music/567/000039450/">Trigger</a> Drummer (1975)<br>    <a href="/music/329/000035224/">National Health</a> Drummer (1975)<br>    <a href="/music/983/000034881/">Genesis</a> Drummer (1976)<br>    <a href="/music/527/000038413/">UK</a> Drummer (1978)<br>    <a href="/music/330/000035225/">Bruford</a> Drummer (1977-80)<br>    <a href="/music/685/000038571/">Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe</a> Drummer (1989-91)<br>    <a href="/music/987/000034885/">Earthworks</a> Drummer (1986-)<br><p> <b>Official Website:</b><br><a href="http://www.billbruford.com/" target=_blank>http://www.billbruford.com/</a><p> <b>Author of books:</b><br> <i>Bill Bruford: The Autobiography: Yes, King Crimson, Earthworks, and More</i> (<tt>2009</tt>, memoir)<br><p> <br> <p> <table> <tr> <td align=right valign=middle style="padding-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: italic; color: #ff3333;">New!</span><br> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/" class="fotmlink" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; color: #dd0000;">NNDB MAPPER</a></td> <td valign=middle align=right style="border-left: 1px solid #bbb; padding-left: 5px;">Create a map starting with</td> <td valign=middle align=right><a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=34868"><img src="/man.gif" border=0 style="padding: 2px;"></a></td> <td align=left valign=middle> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=34868">Bill Bruford</a></td> </tr> </table> <font face="Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.</font> <br><br><p> <font size=-1>Do you know something we don't?</font><br> <font size=-1><a href="http://commentary.nndb.com/submit/feedback/?id=34868" rel="nofollow">Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile</a></font><br> <p> <br><br><p><font size=-1>Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications</font><p> </td></tr></table> </td></tr> </table> </td> <td width=180 align="center" valign="top" style="padding: 0px 0px 8px 25px;"></td></tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>

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Bill Bruford