Bill Bruford's Earthworks

In 1986 prog rock percussion legend Bill Bruford launched Bill Bruford's Earthworks to channel his longstanding interest in jazz. The initial roster featured Django Bates on trumpet, Eb tenor horn, and keyboards, acoustic bassist Mick Hutton, and Iain Ballamy handling soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones. Their debut recording, titled simply Earthworks, appeared soon afterward, followed in 1989 by Dig? and then All Heaven Broke Loose in 1993. Stamping Ground came next as the ensemble's earliest concert document. Bruford subsequently shifted focus to King Crimson for several years, yet upon returning he assembled Heavenly Bodies, a 1997 retrospective that incorporated previously unreleased live material.

By the release of A Part, and Yet Apart in 1999 the configuration had changed to include pianist Steve Hamilton, soprano and tenor saxophonist Patrick Clahar, and bassist Mark Hodgson alongside Bruford. That same personnel produced The Sound of Surprise in 2001 along with the 2002 live album Footloose and Fancy Free and its companion live DVD Footloose in New York City. Tim Garland, credited with tenor and soprano saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet, eventually took Clahar's place, after which the group issued the concert recording Random Acts of Happiness in 2004. Although issued under the Earthworks name, 2006's Earthworks Underground Orchestra was captured at New York City's Iridium jazz club and presented Bruford and Garland joined by a New York edition of the Underground Orchestra, with trombonist Robin Eubanks appearing on two selections.

Throughout its final period the project experienced further membership shifts while performing across the U.K., Europe, Asia, and New York City. Its concluding performance occurred at Ronnie Scott's in London during summer 2008, and early the next year Bruford declared both the dissolution of the ensemble and his own withdrawal from public playing.