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Summary: Sizzling Live Jazz Recording Caught On Video
Review: This live performance by Bill Bruford's Earthworks smokes, sizzles, and catches fire. Never mind that the video quality is not pristine... the music more than makes up for it. It's like listening to a great recording of sizzling live jazz performance, with the bonus of being able to see the musicians as they create it. The sometimes "lo-fi" video quality just adds to the atmosphere of what it might have been like to be at the club the night this was captured. And the price of the DVD is less than that of most CDs! If you like authentic acoustic jazz mixed with modern bop stylings, and superb musicianship & composition, you will love this.
Rating:
Summary: Earthworks: Footloose and Burning Up NYC!
Review: Widely known as "Britain's Art Blakey," Bill Bruford all but abandons the progressive rock world, returning to his jazz roots in a powerful live performance with this second incarnation of Earthworks. Filmed at the Bottom Line in New York City, the DVD finds the band at the beginning of its grueling three-week US tour in support of its 2001 release, "The Sound of Surprise." The setlist draws primarily from the two most recent Earthworks releases, "The Sound of Surprise" and "A Part, and Yet Apart," as well as selected pieces from Bruford's collaborations with Eddie Gomez and Ralph Towner ("When Summer Had Its Ghosts"). Bruford's inclusion of Bruford-Levin Upper Extremities' "Original Sin" also adds a delicious edge to the band's heady repertoire. Bruford's lineup includes the brightest young jazz talent on the London club scene, such as Scottish pianist Steve Hamilton, who handles Bruford's compositions with exquisite care. Saxophonist Patrick Clahar almost steals the show with his Coltrane-like prowess, particularly on the finale, "Bridge of Inhibition," while Mark Hodgson works his bass, mastering Bruford's infamously odd meters with finesse. For those new to the jazz or fusion genres, this is an excellent introduction, and a mindblowing one at that. Well worth the price for the nearly two-hour concert alone, this DVD includes some extra features such as twenty-plus minutes of exclusive backstage footage and interviews with the band, as well as a full discography and biography of each member of Earthworks. Bruford is clearly at his peak, at a time when many (former) rock musicians find themselves struggling for a new identity. A MUST for Bruford collectors (and completists)and any jazz fan.
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