Many people will know the name Bill Bruford from his widespread and varied career playing for bands such as Yes or King Crimson or perhaps many of the sessions Bill has managed to notch up over the years, most notably for Genesis for whom he briefly drummed alongside Phil Collins when Phil took over the vocalists spot vacated by Peter Gabriel. These days Bill fronts the jazz quartet Earthworks and in addition to playing the odd session Bill seems more than happy playing dates as far afield as Japan and South America to enthusiastic jazz audiences and music lovers in general. The second incarnation of Earthworks is in essence an acoustic Jazz quartet rather than the more modern approach featuring electric instruments favoured by the original line up of Earthworks which Bill founded in the nineteen eighties The first release from Summerfold Records was the wonderful live album recorded in San Francisco in 2002, Random Acts Of Happiness.

The fourth release from Bill on his new Summerfold imprint is actually a re-release of the Earthworks album entitled Footloose and Fancy Free, a double album.

"Over hundreds of nights and thousands of concerts, the imperceptible removal of grime and accretion will, you hope, let your light shine forth more brightly" - Bill Bruford. Bruford has, by his own count, played some 2800 concerts since his light began shining in the early 1970s, as a singularly brilliant art-rock drummer with Yes and King Crimson. Now on this double live album, with tunes drawn mainly from studio albums A Part, and Yet Apart and The Sound of Surprise, this composer and master-drummer polishes the diamond on his current instrument of choice: the acoustic sax-piano jazz quartet. The band have built an enviable reputation over the last seven years and attracted many new fans to the cause who are themselves new to jazz.

"It is no surprise anymore how good Earthworks is" Downbeat, *****